Four women and three boatmen managed to swim safely to the shore while local villagers had fished out 10 bodies till late Saturday night.

'During the night-long rescue operations, we succeeded in recovering another nine bodies. We are continuing the search for the remaining 11 women who are still missing. Police and local villagers are conducting a search downstream to trace them,' Sagar told IANS.

The state government has announced compensation of Rs.100,000 to the family members of each of the victims.

Bhandara is the home district of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.