Dozens Killed As Indian Ferry Sinks

A ferry laden with sacks of food sank in northeastern India during a heavy rainstorm, drowning as many as 95 people.

The ferry was carrying about 135 passengers when it went down during a storm Tuesday night in the Brahmaputra River in Assam state, local administrator Sanjeev Kumar said Thursday.

Rescue workers have recovered the bodies of three men and three women, but fear 95 were killed.

Forty people swam to safety. One of those who survived told authorities that the two-deck ferry was carrying about 200 bags of rice, wheat flour and lentils, said P.R. Das, a government official.

Das quoted one of the men who swam to safety, Joynel Abideen, as saying the ferry was trapped in swirling waters and high winds when it sank near a small uninhabited island.