At least 600 feared dead in ferry sinking
Around 600 people were missing feared dead today after a ferry packed with at least 750 passengers capsized in a rain-swollen river in southern Bangladesh, rescue officials said.
Survivors said the ferry, the MV Nasrin-2, overturned when it hit turbulent waters as it approached a ferry terminal in the town of Chandpur. It sank late yesterday as many passengers were either asleep or preparing to go to bed, they said.
About 150 people either swam to shore or were rescued by local fishermen, said Manzoor-e-Elahi, the area’s government administrator.
Some newspapers said the ferry was carrying more than 1,000 passengers - nearly three times its legal capacity.
The steel and wood ship was “extremely overcrowded” because about 400 passengers boarded at the last moment after another ferry cancelled its scheduled trip to the south, Bangladesh’s Ittefaq newspaper said.
Heavy monsoon rains have swollen many rivers in Bangladesh, making river transportation dangerous.
The triple-deck ferry was travelling from Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, to the southern Bhola district when it sank near Chandpur, 40 miles south of the capital, Elahi said.
Among the survivors was Sujan, a seven-year-old boy.
“I held on to a small piece of wood,” said the boy, who was travelling with his father, who is missing.
“Please find my father,” he cried at Chandpur’s ferry terminal.
“I was sitting on the upper deck with my three-year-old daughter,” said Rina Begum, another survivor. “There was a big jolt and the ferry started going down.”
Rina, 25, was rescued by fishermen, but her child was missing.
No bodies have been recovered so far, officials said.
Elahi said police and local people were using boats to search for survivors.
A salvage ship, Hamza, reached the site of the accident today, officials said. The ship is equipped with cranes which are used to pull sunken ships to the surface.
Frequent boating accidents, often blamed on overloading, faulty construction and disregard for safety measures, claim hundreds of lives every year in Bangladesh, a nation of 130 million people.
In April, following protests by boat operators, Bangladesh officials withdrew a ban on night travel by ferries that was instituted after a series of accidents.
In return for the lifting of the ban, ferry owners promised not to operate their vessels in inclement weather and to follow safety regulations.
