Recovery workers are trying to raise the wreckage of a ferry that capsized on a river in Bangladesh while carrying about 200 people, hoping Wednesday’s efforts would reveal the fate of dozens of passengers still missing.
The death toll stands at 63.
The ferry collided with a cargo boat and capsized in the darkness of Tuesday morning, sending hundreds of people into the Meghna River, just south of the capital, Dhaka. Local police chief Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan said about 35 survivors were plucked out of the water while local media reported that another 40 managed to swim to shore.
The death toll climbed to 63 on Wednesday after villagers and rescuers found more bodies floating near the scene of the accident, said rescue official Mahfuzul Haque. Divers recovered 31 bodies from inside the sunken ferry the day before.
The dead included a young woman found cradling her baby’s lifeless body, Khan said.
“The death toll is likely to rise as more bodies are feared trapped inside,” police official Khan said. “We will get a better picture of the casualties once the sunken ferry is pulled out of the water.”
Rescue operations
Ferry accidents, often blamed on overcrowding, faulty vessels and lax rules, are common in Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 160-million people.
Khan said a bigger rescue vessel, MV Hamza, reached the scene on Wednesday morning and would work on salvaging the boat. A second rescue ship, MV Rustam, has also joined the rescue fleet. The ferry sank in about 21 metres of water.
By late Wednesday morning, the sunken ferry was pulled up to the water level and the rescue ships were slowly attempting to tow it to the bank.
Khan could not specify how many people were missing but said many were feared dead. It is difficult to get a reliable estimate for the number of passengers as ferry operators rarely keep a list and most passengers buy tickets once on board.
Some of the bodies inside the sunken ferry were buried under cargo, said Mohammad Alauddin, a diver who was among the searchers.
Hundreds of anxious people, many of them weeping, gathered near the scene of the accident to look for their loved ones. Some of them were angry as they blamed local authorities for slow pace of the rescue operation.
Collision
The MV Shariatpur-1 was traveling to Dhaka from neighbouring Shariatpur district to the southwest. The accident site is in Munshiganj district, about 32 kilometres south of Dhaka.
Survivor Dulal Dewan described chaos as the ferry and cargo boat collided.
“I was awakened with a big jolt,” said the businessman, who had been asleep on the top deck. “I jumped into the river in darkness as the ferry started going down.”
“In minutes there were screams all around,” he said. “People were shouting for help.”
Dewan said he was rescued by a nearby boat but eight other family members traveling with him were still unaccounted for.
Another survivor, Abdul Gani Akhand, was shivering as a rescue worker escorted him to a hospital. “I was sleeping and I really don’t know how I survived,” he said.
An investigation has been ordered into the cause of the accident, said Azizul Alam, the area’s government administrator. — Sapa-AP