Boat capsizes in eastern India: Fourteen dead, 16 missing

A crowded boat capsized Monday in the Kosi River in eastern India, leaving at least 14 people dead and 16 others missing, police said. The passengers were heading for a local fair in the town of Kasba and were crossing the Kosi River in India's Bihar state, when the boat overturned and sank, said Sudhanshu Kumar, a local police superintendent.

Villagers and police have recovered 14 bodies from the river, including those of 11 women and two children.

Five other passengers were rescued and were in hospital in the nearby town of Purnia, 180 kilometers (112 miles) northeast of the state capital, Patna.

Divers were searching for the remaining 16 passengers on the boat, Kumar said. Boat accidents are common in Bihar, an impoverished state with poor infrastructure. Boats are often overcrowded because they are the only means of transportation for residents in many villages along its rivers, reports the AP. I.L.