At least 13 people died and others were feared drowned after a tourist boat packed with 35-40 passengers capsized at Pavithra Sangamam ghat near Vijayawada in river Krishna on Sunday evening.

Sources told said that 15 people have been recovered so far while 10 others are still feared missing.

The boat overturned while it was returning from the Bhavani Island to the Pavithra Sangamam, where the Godavari meets the Krishna.

The authorities have pressed into service a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to rescue the missing passengers.

They said that the boat, run by Simple Water Sports, was ferrying 35-40 passengers, much more than its capacity of 20.

The overcrowded boat couldn’t pass over a whirlpool at the spot where the Godavari joins the Krishna, they added.

Sunday being a holiday and this being the auspicious Karthika Masam, the number of tourists was more than usual.