9 women killed as boat sank in river in eastern India

At least nine women were drowned and six others still missing after a small boat capsized in the Ganges river in the eastern Indian state of Bihar late Tuesday night, a senior police official said Wednesday. "We have recovered the bodies of nine women so far. Some 22 women and a male boat driver were on board the vessel when it sank in the river in the state's Buxar District. The victims were returning home after working in farms in the neighboring northern state of Uttar Pradesh when the incident happened," he said, on condition of anonymity. However, seven women were rescued from drowning by locals, the official said. The district administration has called off the search operation, according to local TV channels. Boat mishaps are common in India, with the reason being overloading. Some 21 people were drowned when a tourist boat sank off India' s Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal last Sunday. In a similar incident, 11 people were killed after a boat capsized in the flooded Kosi river in Bihar in July last year.