Bangladesh ferry capsizes with 500 on board

by Agency Reporter

A ferry in Bangladesh with hundreds of passengers on board has capsized, Sky News reports.

The accident happened in the River Padma, near Munshiganj district, about 18 miles (30 kilometres) southwest of the capital Dhaka.

Reports said around 100 passengers had been been saved from the vessel, identified as the Pinak-6. Two bodies have been found so far.

One official said that the boat was carrying passengers who were on their way home after celebrating the end of Ramadan.

The English language website of Dhaka daily newspaper Prothom Alo said the boat was in the middle of the river between the terminals of Mawa and Kawrakandi when it overturned at about 11am (6am UK time).

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Mawa zone manager Abdul Alim told the newspaper the passengers who were rescued had been travelling on the roof of the ferry.

Alim put the number on the ferry at as many as 500.

Tugboats were involved in the rescue of the rest of the passengers, he added.

Survivor Syed Saadi said his wife and two sons were still missing.

He said: “The waves were huge, the ferry was rolling heavily from side to side.

“The boat flooded with water after a huge wave hit it, and tipped over before sinking under the water.”

Lauhajang police officer-in-charge Md Tajul Islam said the exact number of the passengers rescued and missing was not yet known.

Local police chief Tofazzal Hossain told the AP news agency some of the passengers would have been able to swim to safety but many were feared trapped or drowned.

The ferry provides one of the main crossing points of the huge river which becomes the Padma after the Ganges leaves India and later joins the Jamuna River.

The crossing, which takes passengers across the 2.5 miles-wide (4km) river, provides many of those from the south west of the country with access to Dhaka.

In March 2012, a ferry sank near the same spot, killing around 145 people.