KOLKATA, INDIA - At least 27 people were missing Sunday after an overcrowded ferry capsized in a river in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, police said.

The small vessel, with 38 passengers on board, sank while crossing the Runarayan river in Kolaghat, about 50 kilometres southwest of the state capital Kolkata.

"The ferry was overcrowded and leaking, and it overturned in the middle of the river," West Bengal police inspector general Surojit Kar Purakayastha told AFP.

Purakayastha said local fishermen had managed to rescue nine men and two children after the incident.

"We fear the other 27 people have been swept away by the strong current," he said. Police said the coastguard had been called in to help with the rescue operation.