Indian ferry may have been overloaded DHUBRI, India, May 1 (UPI) -- The ferry that capsized on the Brahmaputra River in India may have been carrying twice the number of passengers it was designed for, officials say. Local officials in Assam, in northeastern India, said there may have been as many as 500 people on board, the Hindustan Times reported. The official toll Tuesday morning was 45, the newspaper said, but scores of people were missing and investigators said as many as 200 may have died. The boat broke into pieces after it was hit by a storm. Taleb Ali, 42, told the Times he was able to swim to shore and to help at least four others survive. "Overloading is normal in these parts," Ali said. There were at least 500 people on the boat, and I was lucky to have been on the upper deck. Most of the people were in the cage-like lower deck and I fear they were trapped. The death toll will cross 200. Pradip Kumar, the police chief in Dhubri, said the ferry was en route from Dhubri on a 3-hour trip southeast to Hatsinghimari when it ran into the cyclonic storm.