103 dead, 100 missing in Indian ferry capsize

PanARMENIAN.Net - Army divers and rescue workers pulled 103 bodies out of a river after a packed ferry capsized in heavy winds and rain in remote northeast India, an official said Tuesday, May 1, AP reported.

At least 100 people were still missing Tuesday after the ferry carrying about 350 people broke into two pieces late Monday, said Pritam Saikia, the district magistrate of Goalpara district.

Deep sea divers and disaster rescue soldiers worked through the night to pull bodies from the Brahmaputra River in Assam state. Rescue operations were centered around the tiny village of Buraburi near the India-Bangladesh border. Heavy winds and rain hampered rescue operations, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Assam's top elected official.

Around 150 passengers swam to safety or were rescued by villagers, said Saikia, who was supervising the rescue operations.

Divers and rescue workers with rubber rafts scoured the river Tuesday in the search for survivors amid the floating debris, which was all that remained of the ferry.

The accident occurred near Fakiragram village in west Dhubri district, about 350 kilometers (215 miles) west of the state capital, Gauhati, and close to where the Brahmaputra River enters Bangladesh.