COLOMBO (Reuters) - At least six people have died after a ferry they were traveling in capsized in eastern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, officials said.

       Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said the ferry was carrying mostly students and teachers to a school across a lagoon in the town of Kinniya when it capsized around 0730 local time.

       Villagers, police and navy managed to save 14 people, half of them children, and rushed them to the nearby hospital.

       Thalduwa confirmed six people, including four school children, are among the dead. The ferry was carrying about 25 to 35 people at the time.

       “Eight navy teams including divers are looking for the missing people. The cause for the capsizing has not been identified yet,” he added.

       (Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Alasdair Pal)