At least 79 die after ferry sinks in Bangladesh

AT least 79 people were killed and nearly 120 were missing after a Bangladeshi ferry capsized in a storm on a river near the capital Dhaka, police and officials said yesterday.

The ferry MV Maharaj, which officials said was believed to have been carrying 200 people, had been sailing to the southern town of Chandpur from Dhaka when it was caught in a storm on the Buriganga river late on Saturday. Only a handful of people were known to have survived.

“Seventy-nine bodies have been found so far and the search for more is continuing. A second rescue vessel is coming to join efforts to salvage the ferry,” Saiful Haque Khan, a director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority

Most of the passengers and crew were feared drowned. “But we would not know the exact number of casualties until the ill-fated ferry is fully salvaged,” said an official at the scene.

Mr Khan, supervising the rescue efforts on board a salvage ship, said a second vessel had been called in to help after initial attempts to pull the 100-ton ferry out of the water failed.

“We are trying hard but the salvage operation may still take several hours,” Mr Khan said.

He said the exact number of people on board was unlikely to be determined as most Bangladeshi ferry companies do not keep passenger lists and often pack ships beyond their capacity.

Rescuers piled up bodies on the banks of the Buriganga yesterday.

Police used batons to disperse hundreds of mourning relatives crowded at the water’s edge, angry at the slow pace of the rescue.

“I am waiting to know the fate of my missing mother, sister and five other relatives. But no one is able to tell me anything,” said survivor Shahidul Islam.

“Why they are taking so long to bring the ferry out of water? How long shall I have to wait?”

Survivors said the ferry had been packed with people heading home for a holiday to mark the Muslim religious festival of Ashura.