250 feared dead in Assam boat tragedy, search continues

The search, being conducted by the national disaster relief force, the Border Security Force and the army, produced no result on Wednesday and the police feared the death toll could be around 250.

Bodies of three children were fished out of the Brahmaputra on Tuesday night.

Dhubri deputy commissioner Kumud Chandra Kalita, Superintendent of Police Pradip Chandra Saloi and top officials of the NDRF, the BSF and the army are on the spot for supervision.

On Tuesday, Kalita had hinted that the death toll in Monday's boat tragedy would rise as more than 100 were missing.

The police said the search operation would continue through the day and did not rule out the possibility of many bodies being washed downstream to the river's south bank in Bangladesh.

All Indian Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi along with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, is scheduled to visit Dhubri later in the day to take stock of the situation.

The double-decker ferry carrying around 300 people capsized in the Brahmaputra River on Monday.