18 women killed in Pakistan wedding boat capsize

At least 18 women drowned and dozens more people are missing after an overcrowded boat carrying a Pakistan wedding party capsized on Monday, officials said.

The boat was ferrying about 100 members of one family across the Indus river in a marriage procession between the villages of Machka and Kharor in the Sadiqabad sub district of Punjab province, according to police and local authorities.

Eighteen women were "confirmed dead" and 25 to 30 people "were either rescued by locals who live along the river or managed to swim ashore", according to Sadiqabad spokesman Rana Kashif Mehmood.

"Rescue teams are at the scene," he said.

Police officer Mohammad Hammad said "most of the drowned appear to be women" because "most of the men knew how to swim".

"The death toll may increase," he said.

Villagers in rural Pakistan often use boats to travel, avoiding the higher costs of automobile transport on ramshackle roads that are often far from their homes.

In a statement, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his grief and sorrow over the incident and asked authorities to make their best efforts to rescue those passengers who are still missing.

Such accidents are common in Pakistan, where rickety wooden boats are often used to transport goods and people on rivers and lakes. Most operate without life jackets.