At least 15 passengers, including 13 children, died and others were missing after a boat capsized in India's western Gujarat state on Thursday.

The incident happened in Gujarat state as students were traveling to a picnic organized by their school.

Dozens of people joined a frantic search for survivors around the lake in Vadodara district where the boat capsized.

The victims include children aged as young as 10 along with one of their teachers, a hospital staffer and a district official involved in rescue operations, neither of whom gave their names, told AFP.

"The total death toll is 15," hospital superintendent Ranjan Aiyer told reporters.

Other officials at the hospital, who did not give their names, said that the victims included children aged as young as 10 along with two of their teachers.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear but a Vadodara district official told AFP that 27 people were believed to be aboard.

"My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief," Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"May the injured recover soon. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected."

Vadodara municipal commissioner Dilip Rana confirmed the toll to AFP but did not provide further information on the victims.

Fatal boat accidents are common on Indian waterways.

Last year, at least 22 people were killed when their double-decker tourist boat capsized in the southern state of Kerala.

Survivors of that accident told local media that many of the passengers were not wearing life jackets.