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Ten dead, 70 missing after ferry capsizes |
DHAKA: At least 10 people have died and over 70 are missing after a twin-deck ferry with more than 100 aboard sank in a river during a storm in southern Bangladesh yesterday, police said.
High winds were hampering rescue efforts at Badnatoli on the Char Kazal River in southern Patuakhali district, about 250km south of Dhaka, police spokesman Shilamoni Chakma said.
“More than 100 passengers were on board when the ferry named ‘Prince of Patuakhali’ capsized due to strong winds and high tides,” said Chakma, who was at the scene.
“We’ve recovered the dead bodies of ten persons including two children. I’m afraid the rest were drowned and could be washed downstream due to the strong current in the river,” he said.
“It would be difficult for the passengers to swim ashore because the Char Kazal river is very wide and the place is near the mouth of the sea,” he added.
Police and fire service divers were rushed to Badnatoli, situated in one of the remotest parts of the country, to help rescue anyone who may have survived the incident.
“We have sent an advanced rescue team to the site,” Bangladeshi fishing ministry spokesman Shafiqul Islam said. “A rescue vessel is on its way.”
Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, often caused by a combination of rough weather and overcrowding by ferry owners eager to boost revenues. At least 3,000 people have died in more than 260 ferry accidents in Bangladesh since 1977.
In February, 150 people were killed when a ferry capsized in a cyclone near the capital Dhaka.
The Bangladeshi government announced tough new measures last year to reduce the number of lives being lost in ferry accidents including increased checks on overcrowding, new weather monitoring stations and modernisation of old ferries.
Shipping minister Akbar Hossain said after the February capsize that they would be implemented immediately instead of at the end of April, when they had been due to come into force.
In December 2004, the country proposed the creation of a special Waterway Accident Prevention Project of 11 weather forecasting stations along the country’s main rivers to warn boat owners of rough weather and the establishment of a laboratory to test the stability of boat designs.
The delta nation is criss-crossed by a network of more than 230 rivers and about 3,000 ferries provide daily transport for more than 100,000 people. - AFP |
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