Official sources said 30 people were feared drowned when a country boat capsized in a tributary of river Burhi Gandak near Kolua-Pagamberpur village under Kanti block in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday, taking the toll in the current wave of flood to 280.

Twelve bodies have so far been recovered while an intense search continued to locate the remaining missing people, the sources said.

State Water Resource Department sources said Gandak breached its Saran embankment between 82 and 83 miles submerging vast countryside areas in Gopalganj and Saran districts.

Swirling waters of Ganga washed away the flanks of the Bhagalpur-Sahebganj road in a stretch of two kilometres near Trimohan village under Kahalgaon subdivision in Bhagalpur district.

Ganga was flowing 24 cm abovethe danger mark at Kahalgaon and was still maintaining rising trend posing fresh threat to vast areas in Bhagalpur and Katihar, the sources said.