3 drown as boat capsizes in north India

Three people drowned after a boat carrying 18 people capsized in the Sangam river in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Wednesday during a religious ritual, said local media.

The incident took place at the city of Allahabad when an over- packed motorboat turned turtle after being hired by a group of people, the Press Trust of India quoted police as saying.

Fifteen other occupants of the boat were rescued by divers.

The group had hired the motorboat to immerse the ashes of an acquaintance in Sangam river, the Ganga and Yamuna rivers' confluence, considered holy by Hindus, Yadav said.