40 dead, 100 missing in India after Ferry disaster

About 40 bodies have been recovered and 100 people remain missing, and are feared dead after a ferry split in two and sank in a remote part of northeastern India, according to officials. The state’s commissioner Jishnu Barua told CNN that the ferry sank on Monday evening as it sailed along the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Barua said 90 people have been rescued, while divers have been deployed to search for more victims.

After a storm, the vessel seemingly broke apart as it prepared to dock. Barua said the ferry was overcrowded and carrying roughly 300 passengers, which is more than its capacity of 280. “I could see people being swept away as the river current was very strong,” a witness, Rahul Karmakar, told Agence France-Presse. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to the sinking as a “tragedy.” According to a statement, the prime minister said he was “shocked and grieved to know about the loss of lives,” adding he had given instructions “for all possible assistance to the government of Assam in relief operations.” Ferries are often overcrowded and in poor conditions due to lax safety standards in remote areas of India. A boat packed with Muslim pilgrims capsized in West Bengal in eastern India, leaving at least 79 people lifeless in 2010.