DHAKA: Rescuers have retrieved 32 bodies, including at least 12 children, and are searching for scores of people missing after an overcrowded ferry sank in a river along the Bangladesh coast, police and witnesses said on Saturday.
They said the ferry M.V. Coco-4 was sailing to the coastal town of Bhola, some 300 km from Dhaka, on Friday night with around 1,500 people on board — about three times the number it was registered to carry. The ferry was listed with a capacity to carry about 450 people.
Many of those on board were going home to celebrate the Eid Al-Adha festival on Saturday.
“People were trying desperately to reach home before the Eid prayers on Saturday morning. They even found themselves room in the ferry’s luggage holds,” one witness told reporters.
Thousands of frantic relatives crowded the banks of the river Tentulia in the remote southern coastal village of Nazirpura, 250 km from Dhaka, desperate for news of family members.
“We have recovered 28 bodies. We believe dozens more people were trapped under the water and we fear they are dead,” district administrator Mejbahul Islam told AFP from Nazirpura.
Fifteen of the bodies were of women and children, Islam said by telephone.
The accident occurred Friday around midnight as the triple deck MV Coco-4, one of the country’s largest inland vessels, was approaching the dock on Bhola island in southern Bangladesh.
Most of the passengers managed to swim ashore or were rescued, but others were trapped underwater.
“It’s impossible at the moment to say how many are missing,” district administrator Islam said.
Some of those rescued were in critical condition in hospital. The vessel “tilted and part of it sank due to the pressure of the crowd” as it came near the shore, police chief Hossain said.
Divers had rescued more than 100 people from the submerged part of the vessel, managing to prise open lower cabins, Islam said. Rescue operations were resumed after being suspended for several hours because of fuel leaking from the vessel.
Local member of Parliament Abdullah Al-Islam said authorities were sending a salvage vessel to bring the boat to shore.
“Until we can lift the sunken side, we can’t know how many were trapped inside,” he said.
Media at the scene reported the ferry started taking in water after it hit a raised section of the river bed in heavy fog.
“Survivors told us they panicked and rushed to disembark after hearing a loud noise on the bottom deck,” said Islam.
An investigation into the sinking has been ordered, the Communications Ministry said.
Boat and ferry accidents due to lax safety standards and overloading are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed by a network of 230 rivers.
Ahead of every major festival, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority issues warnings to ship owners not to overload ferries.
But owners often ignore the warnings.
Experts also say most of the ferries which ply the rivers are built in local dockyards without proper safety checks.
