Patna, September 2:

At least 15 people drowned overnight in two separate incidents in India’s flood-ravaged northeast, an official said today.

The dead were on two overcrowded rescue boats that capsized while ferrying people to relief camps, said Bihar’s disaster management secretary Prataya Amrit.

The boats were carrying people away from flooding caused when the Koshi River breached its banks in Nepal and changed course, inundating Bihar.