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41 people die in Bangladesh ferry tragedy

Sunday, 22 February 2015 4:44 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 February 2015 4:47 PM ]

Bangladeshi rescue workers recover the body of a victim after a ferry accident on the Padma river, Bangladesh, February 22, 2015. (© AFP)

At least 41 people, including 11 children, have lost their lives in a ferry accident during which the overcrowded vessel collided with a cargo ship on Bangladesh’s major river of Padma, and sank within minutes.

“Divers have recovered 41 bodies. The dead included 11 children and seven women,” local police chief, Rakibuz Zaman, said on Sunday.

Zaman further noted that some 50 people “swam ashore or were rescued by other vessels.”

The site of the accident is 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

Inspector Zihad Mia, who is overseeing an ongoing rescue operation, said the ferry submerged at a depth of up to 6 meters (20 feet), adding that officials do not know the exact number of the missing people.

“We don’t have a clear picture about how many were exactly in the ferry when it sank,” Mia added.

Authorities have said that search and rescue efforts, with the aid of floodlights from other ferries on the river, would continue through the night.

Survivors said between 70 and 150 passengers had crammed into the upper and lower decks of the MV Mostofa, leaving them unable to find their loved ones when the mishap took place.

“I was holding my mother’s hand when the cargo boat hit our ferry from behind,” 18-year-old survivor Al Amin said.

He added, “Within two minutes the ferry was sunk. Before I realized, I was washed away to the middle of the river. I swam and a ferry rescued me. But I don’t know what happened to my mom.”

“The passengers who were on the deck have survived, but many who were inside got trapped,” Hafizur Rahman Sheikh, another passenger who survived, said, adding that the cargo vessel hit the middle of the ferry.

Ferry accidents are frequent in impoverished Bangladesh, where more than 130 rivers crisscross the South Asian country.

At least five people were killed earlier this month, when a ferry sank in southern Bangladesh.

In a similar accident in August 2014, more than 100 people were killed or went missing as a ferry with a passenger capacity of 85 capsized on the Padma river. The ferry was found to be carrying more than 200 when the tragedy happened.

MP/HJL/SS

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