Kishanganj: At least 40 pilgrims, mostly women, were feared drowned when an over-crowded boat carrying them capsized midstream of swollen River Kankai in Bihar's Kishanganj district on August 11, police said.

Twenty-three bodies have already been fished out from the water at different ghats under Terha Gachh block in the district, while intense search continues to locate the others missing since the disaster.

The recovered bodies were kept outside Biwiganj police station for identification.

Twelve of the occupants of the boat swam to safety, the police said.

The tragedy struck when the boat carrying 52 pilgrims, mostly women, was on its way from Biwiganj in Kishanganj district to Khaniabad in Nepal to offer prayers at a Shiva temple on the occasion of last Somwari, marking the end of the month-long Shravani festival.

While eight bodies each were recovered from Matiayari ghat and Dubyabhedi, four bodies were washed ashore at Motitola and three at Kankaghat, the police said.

Professional divers from the adjoining Araria, Purnia and Bhagalpur districts were pressed into service to locate the bodies and survivors, the police said, adding senior Bihar Minister Mohammed Taslimuddin and district magistrate K S Kumar are camping at Biwiganj to oversee the relief and rescue operations

This is the first major boat mishap during the current spell of floods in Bihar that has already claimed 41 lives in different flood-hit districts.

PTI