21 drown after boat capsizes in India

An overloaded boat carrying Hindu devotees capsized in northern India, leaving at least 21 people dead and 20 missing, police said today.

At least 60 people packed onto a boat to cross the Yamuna River after praying at a temple on Saturday night, said Surendra Srivastava, a police official in Uttar Pradesh state.

Police recovered 21 bodies while roughly 20 people swam to shore, Srivastava said.

Police were searching for about 20 other people still unaccounted for today.

The boat overturned in Aurriya, 185 miles south-west of Lucknow, the state capital.

Boat accidents are common in India, where many vessels are unsafe and overloaded.