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Divers and rescue workers are looking for survivors on the Brahmaputra river in India's Assam state, where a ferry capsized during a storm on Monday, killing at least 103 people.
Police said about 100 people have been rescued. Some 40 bodies have already been recovered from the river.
The death toll is likely to rise, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said.
Lax safety standards mean ferry accidents are common on the river but this is one of the worst disasters.
Police officials said it happened in the remote district of Dhubri, about 350km (215 miles) west of Assam's main city, Guwahati.
About 100 passengers have been rescued from the river, Assam police chief Jayanta Narayan Choudhury said. Some passengers were reported to have swum to safety.
No lifeboatsRescue workers and divers fought heavy winds and rain to find 60 passengers from the capsized vessel, a senior paramilitary rescue official Alok Kumar Singh was quoted telling reporters by the Reuters news agency.
"We have rescued 60 passengers so far and they have been rushed to the local hospital where the doctor would declare how many of them have died ... how many will survive it is very difficult to determine as the underwater current of the river is very strong," Mr Singh said.
A passenger, Hasnat Ali, told local TV channels that about 200 people were travelling in the boat along with cargo.
Mr Ali said he was riding on the roof along with 150 other people when a storm hit the boat, throwing off many of those on the roof.
He said he managed to hold on to a log and was later rescued by local villagers.
The vessel capsized and broke into two pieces during the storm, police said.
The ferry carried no lifeboats or life jackets, and was overloaded with people and goods, according to a police officer quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Boats are a common mode of transport in the area, which is dotted with small islands and villages along the banks of the river, reports the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi.
Many of the boats are overcrowded with poor or minimal safety features, our correspondent adds.


Article Source : BBC News

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