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At least six people have died after a boat taking children to school capsized on a river in Indian-administered Kashmir.

A woman and her two children are among the dead.

Three people, also reported to be children, are still missing, according to local media outlets.

Local residents aided emergency crews in their rescue efforts after the accident on the Jhelum River, near the city of Srinagar.

The boat was being used to ferry people across the river, propelled by its crew pulling on a rope that was tethered to either bank.

Recent heavy rainfall in the region had caused water levels to rise and the current to increase in strength, which witnesses said snapped the rope - sending the boat into a partially-built bridge.

Ghulam Nabi Khan, who was using the boat to travel to work, said: "There was a grill there, and the boat hit it, causing it to capsize."

"I don't know what happened after because it happened so quickly," he continued.

Local residents were the first to enter the water in an attempt to save people, before later being joined by marine commandos and divers.

"Our information so far is that 15 people were on the boat," Srinagar district magistrate Bilal Mohi-ud-Din Bhat said, suggesting earlier reports of more than 20 on board had been incorrect.

Three of those were being treated at a hospital and another three were able to go home, he added.

The search operation is still underway.