Hundreds still missing after ferry sucked into whirlpool

BANGLADESH navy divers used metal detectors yesterday in a vain effort to locate a ferry sucked into a whirlpool two days ago, killing hundreds of people on board.

So far, rescuers and villagers retrieved 45 bodies from the Meghna river, which flows into the Bay of Bengal through Chandpur, where the ferry sank.

“Whatever would be the outcome, we will continue the search at least for two more days,” said Abdur Rab Hawlader, administrator of Chandpur district.

He said authorities had called in more navy vessels with “superior equipment” to try to find the triple-decker MV Nasreen, which was believed to be under 60 metres (200 feet) of water in the rain-swollen river and could have been dragged downstream by strong currents.

The ferry sank a little before midnight on Tuesday when many passengers were sleeping. Among them were nearly 30 people going to attend a wedding party in coastal Bhola district, and all but one in the group have been lost.

“I invited my friends and relatives to the wedding but never imagined a dreadful fate awaited them on the way,” said college teacher Abdul Matin, the would-be groom.

Another Bhola resident, Shahjahan Quddus was on the ferry with his daughter Moushumi, and both are missing, feared dead, his relatives said.

“We have resumed the search ... but there is still no trace of the vessel,” navy Lieutenant-Commander Mahbubur Rashid said. “Even if we can detect the vessel it would be extremely difficult for divers to reach it,” said another navy operator.

More than 600 people were aboard the vessel, licensed to carry only 300, when it nosedived into the river near the town of Chandpur, 170km (106 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka. Only about 200 people managed to reach the shore or were rescued by fishing boats, police and witnesses said.

Officials and witnesses said so far 45 bodies had been found, most of them swept several miles downstream. More bodies could surface soon along the river, they said.

Hundreds of grieving relatives huddled on the river banks through the night awaiting news of loved ones or to take bodies home.

Officials said the spot where the ferry sank was notorious for accidents.