NEW DELHI - At least 27 people were killed and 12 others remained missing in separate incidents while taking dip in rivers on the occasion of Hindu festival of Ganga Dussehra in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, police said Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims thronged to the Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh Sunday for the annual festival, which is celebrated as the day when the Ganga river is believed to have descended on the earth.

A total of 39 people were reported drowned in various parts of the Ganga river across the state, and 27 bodies have been recovered, said police.