Bengaluru: Eight people are feared dead and one person is missing after a boat carrying 26 pilgrims capsized when it was returning from Kurumagada island in the Arabian sea to Rabindranath Tagore Beach near Karwar. The incident occurred at around 3 pm on Monday afternoon.

Vinay Patil, superintendent of police, Karwar, said the rescue operation is underway and the accident seems to have occurred after the driver lost control of the boat.

Condoling the death of pilgrims, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy tweeted: “I am shocked to learn about the boat accident near SagaraDarshana in Uttara Kannada.I spoke to the Dist-in-Charge Min. @RV_Deshpande and took stock of the situation and directed DC of UK dist to speed up the rescue work. My prayers are with the near and dear ones of the victims.”

I am shocked to learn about the boat accident near SagaraDarshana in Uttara Kannada.I spoke to the Dist-in-Charge Min. @RV_Deshpande and took stock of the situation and directed DC of UK dist to speed up the rescue work. My prayers are with the near and dear ones of the victims. — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) January 21, 2019

Of the 26 people in the boat, 17 were rescued immediately by other civil boats operating in the area.

The Indian Navy dispatched two Chetak helicopters and two fast interceptor crafts to help with the search and rescue operations and recovered eight bodies. Search is on for the one person still missing.