Authorities say at least 68 people are dead and 130 others are missing, after a ferry capsized in northeastern India.

Police say the double-decker ferry carrying about 350 passengers broke into two pieces and sank Monday in the Brahmaputra River in Assam state.

Some 150 people were rescued or managed to swim to safety in the Dhubri district, 300 kilometers from the state capital, Gauhati, near the border with Bangladesh.

Police say rescuers — among them members of the army and Border Security Force — were hampered by poor weather conditions, including heavy rain.

Indian authorities say they contacted officials in Bangladesh for help in the search for survivors.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was “shocked and grieved” by the incident.

The Brahmaputra, one of Asia's largest rivers, originates in Tibet, and flows through India and Bangladesh and into the Bay of Bengal.

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