Rescuers searched on Wednesday for dozens of people reported missing after a ferry carrying about 250 people capsized during a storm in central Bangladesh, killing at least two people, police and rescue officials said.
Strong currents and gusty winds hit the double-deck ferry ML Raipura on Tuesday as it neared a terminal on the Jamuna River in central Manikganj district, 40km north-west of the capital, Dhaka.
The ferry was reportedly packed with about 250 people when it capsized, a rescue official said on condition of anonymity.
”When the storm started, we asked the crew to steer to shore. But it was too late,” said Razzak Ali, whose three-year-old son, Rashed, was found dead in the river on Tuesday.
The body of a man was found floating in the river on Wednesday, bringing the known death toll to two, said local police officer Abu Bakr Siddiqui.
At least 50 people were able to swim to shore, but efforts to search the river and shoals for more than 100 other people reported missing have been disrupted by strong currents, he said.
The ferry, packed mostly with farm workers, was on its way to the Aricha terminal from neighbouring Pabna district when it capsized in the stormy weather. The boat has been located in waters about 9m deep, Siddiqui said.
The accident came after another ferry carrying a wedding party sank on Sunday in strong winds and high waves at the mouth of the Bura Gauranga River in southern Bangladesh, killing at least 76 people.
The bride and groom are among the 26 people still missing following the accident in Patuakhali district, 150km south of Dhaka.
Storms take toll
Meanwhile, the death toll from tropical storms that battered northern and central Bangladesh reached 23 on Wednesday as rescue workers found eight more bodies under the rubble of broken homes and toppled trees, officials said.
Fire-brigade rescuers and local volunteers said five people were killed in the northern Rajshahi district and three other died in neighbouring Chuadanga county in the overnight thunderstorms that lashed the region.
Earlier reports claimed 10 people were killed on Tuesday in the worst-hit Natore district in the northern region, where roaring winds blew away mud and straw dwellings, uprooted trees and cut power supplies.
Another five people died in the central region as the storms pounded the lush rice belts and disrupted road links.
The storms triggered pre-monsoon showers in Dhaka on Tuesday in the evening rush hours, which kept stranded thousands of commuters at bus stations in the bustling city.
The torrents flooded busy streets in downtown Dhaka, but the heavy rain also cooled the summer heat and brought welcome relief from the prevailing sultry weather. — Sapa-AP, Sapa-DPA