At least 23 pilgrims, mostly women, were drowned and 17 went missing when a boat capsized in Kankai River in Bihar's Kishanganj district on Monday, police said.

The 23 bodies had been fished out at different ghats along the river under Terha Gachh block.

Twelve managed to swim to safety, the police said.

The boat, carrying 52 pilgrims, 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.

Divers from Araria, Purnia and Bhagalpur districts were pressed into service to locate survivors, the police said, adding senior Bihar minister Mohammed Taslimuddin and district magistrate K S Kumar were camping at Biwiganj to oversee relief and rescue operations.