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Tuesday, October 27, 1998 Published at 09:50 GMT
World: South Asia
Up to 50 feared dead in Indian boat accident
Between 40 and 50 people are missing following a collision between two boats on a river swollen with rain in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.
According to the police the two boats were packed with about 90 pilgrims on their way to a temple on an island about 2 km from the state capital, Guwahati.
About 40 were able to swim to safety after the accident but the rest were carried away in the fast flowing current and police fear they have drowned.
Guwahati police superintendent Dirajuddin Ahmed said the boats were fitted with diesel motors and were meant to carry a maximum of 10 people each.
Hindu festival
The pilgrims were observing a Hindu festival and scattering flowers and floating oil lamps on the Brahmaputra before dawn.
One survivor who managed to swim to the river bank after the collision said the pilgrims on the two boats knew one another.
He said he heard a loud thud and then found himself in the water.
Several of his relatives were missing.
Several hours afterwards police, army divers and local people were still trying to locate the missing and extracating bodies from the river.
The BBC Correspondent in Calcutta, Subir Bhaumik, said the overloading of the boats was the probable cause of the accident.
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