Looking for more survivors GUWAHATI, India - At least 105 people died and 100 were missing after an overloaded ferry split in two and sank in a river in northeastern India in a storm, police said. About 150 people were rescued or escaped by swimming, after the boat sank in the river Brahmaputra in Assam state. "Rescuers and villagers recovered some 105 bodies of the river. It is unknown what happened to the remaining 100," he told AFP PC Haloi, police chief of Dhubri district. Rescue teams, including army units rushed to the scene and were busy finding survivors despite the darkness and bad weather. Experts in deep water divers and soldiers trained for disaster operations worked overnight to recover the bodies of the Brahmaputra River in Assam state. So did the fishermen who live in small villages along the river, at a time when it began to do at night. Strong winds knocked down trees that blocked roads leading to the scene, preventing some aid workers to reach the area. The winds and rain hampered rescue operations following the sinking, said Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, the most senior elected official in Assam. "Shall order an investigation into the causes of the accident, but right now our priority is to find the whereabouts of each person traveling on the ferry," said Gogoi. Witnesses spoke "I saw people swept away by the strong current of the river," he told AFP Rahul Karmakar, who witnessed the wreck. A passenger, Hasnat Ali, told local television that 200 people were crowded together with the load and that he and another 150 were on the roof when a storm came at a time when the shuttle was going to dock to a dock. The boat was hit and many people were on the roof fell into the water and managed to reach shore before the ship to shatter, he said. Ali said he managed to hold onto a piece of wood and then rescued villagers said. The "chances of survival are limited" in the river after heavy rains that have increased their volume. In addition, more rain is forecast for Tuesday in the region. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, called the incident a "tragedy" and pledged to provide all possible assistance to the state government of Assam. "The army, border security forces and other rescue teams with motor boats went to the scene, but the evening and bad weather is hampering rescue efforts," said meanwhile the chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi. "There were about 350 people on board when the storm broke in two the ferry," said the head of the Assam state police, JN Choudhury. PC Haloi had told AFP shortly before the ferry was carrying 250 people. Could increase the number of deaths from the accident The boat was traveling from the neighboring district of Dhubri Fakirganj when the accident occurred late in the afternoon, amid strong currents Haloi said. The death toll could be one of the highest in an accident of this kind in recent years in South Asia, which usually take place dramas like this. In one of the worst ferry wrecks occurred in India, at least 79 Muslim pilgrims drowned in October 2010, sinking an overloaded boat carrying about 150 people in the state of West Bengal (east). In March this year, about 138 people died in neighboring Bangladesh, where a ferry with 200 people on board sank in the Meghna river.