India boat capsizes on Ganges, at least 36 dead
- Published
Boats in India are often overcrowded
Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies from the Ganges river after an overloaded boat capsized in India's Bihar state.
The country boat, carrying about 70 passengers, got caught in a whirlpool and sank in Buxar district late on Sunday, reports say.
Rescuers are looking for the bodies of two more persons who are feared drowned. The rest of the passengers swam ashore, the police said.
Boats in India are often overloaded, which leads to frequent accidents.
The boat on the Ganges was carrying passengers from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state when Sunday's incident happened.
In January, at least 19 people drowned after a boat capsized in a river in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
Last year, a tourist boat carrying 76 people capsized in a lake in the southern Indian state of Kerala, killing at least 37 people.
In February 2007, at least 18 children and four teachers died after a boat carrying school students capsized in Periyar river in Kerala.