Death toll rises to 15 after ferry capsizes in Bangladesh

At least 15 people were killed in central Bangladesh today when a packed river ferry capsized after hitting a cargo boat.

Several passengers were still missing, the area’s chief government administrator, Mohammad Moniruddin, said from the site of the accident.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of four children, 10 women and one man from the sunken ferry, said local police chief Tofazzal Hossain.

Hossain said a salvage ship was on its way to the scene from nearby Narayanganj district to help lift the sunken ferry.

The ferry MV Shah Poran, carrying about 70 people, sank in the Meghna River in Munshiganj district, 20 miles south-east of Dhaka, Moniruddin said.

Many passengers were able to swim to safety because the accident occurred close to shore, the United News of Bangladesh news agency reported.

The ferry was packed with people returning home for this week’s Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.

Ferry accidents, often blamed on lax rules and unsafe navigation, are common in the delta nation of 144 million people.

Last year, more than 300 people died in ferry accidents.

About 20,000 cargo and passenger vessels operate in the South Asian nation, about half of which fail to meet basic safety standards or illegally take passengers, according to an independent study last year.