Patna, Sep. 30 : Thirty-five more bodies have been fished out of Bagmati River near Bihar's Khagaria district where a boat had capsized on Monday.

With this, the death toll reached 56 as search continued by the National Disaster Response Force personnel to locate around 20 missing persons.

"We recovered 35 more bloated bodies from the river taking the toll in the capsize to 56," Block Development Officer (Alauli) Satish Chandra Mishra said from the spot.

Twenty-one bodies, mostly of minors and women, were found from a country boat carrying 100 passengers, which capsized in Bagmati River near Fultora ghat on Monday.

The passengers were returning to their villages after attending a fair on Vijaya Dashami.

The bodies were recovered by the NDRF personnel, Mishra said, adding local divers were still on the job. Some 25 passengers had swam to safety.

Khagaria Superintendent of Police Indranand Mishra said the toll might go up to 75.

Chief Minister Nitish Kuamr had ordered that search operations be intensified and announced ex-gratia of 1.50 lakh rupeesto the families of each of the deceased. (ANI)