Assam ferry disaster toll 105; many still missing

AFP/Guwahati

Rescue teams searched for bodies in the Brahmaputra river yesterday after a ferry sinking left at least 105 dead, with more corpses feared to have been flushed downstream into Bangladesh. The vessel was split in two while navigating the fast-flowing river in the northeastern Assam state, and police said about 100 passengers were still missing. Despite an operating capacity of 225, some 350 people were believed to be on the two-deck boat when it broke up mid-stream during torrential, pre-monsoon rains. The boat sank near the riverside town of Dhubri, about 25km from the border with Bangladesh. “I appeal to Bangladesh to help us in retrieving any dead body or survivors who could have reached their territory,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters, saying a formal request had been made to Dhaka. The Brahmaputra, which is 8km wide at the scene of the accident, flows through northeastern India into Bangladesh and out into the Bay of Bengal. Gogoi added that an inquiry would be launched, but rescue efforts remained the priority. Police said 105 bodies had been counted and some 150 people were rescued or swam to safety, adding that the ferry carried no lifeboats or lifebelts and the chances of picking up more survivors were remote. Two helicopters scoured the river from above as soldiers and police officers reinforced divers and rescue teams working in rubber dinghies, but rain and dangerous water conditions restricted the search operation. “The weather is inclement and the river is rough so the rescue efforts are being hampered,” state police chief J N Choudhury said. No further bodies were recovered yesterday. Some officials said the ferry had broken up when it hit concrete pillars constructed in the water. Bangladesh confirmed it was checking the river, but had yet to find any corpses. “Troops of our border posts have stopped their normal work. A lot of civilians are also helping us in the search,” Bangladesh Colonel Neamul Islam Fatemi said by phone from the border. Taleb Ali, a 35-year-old villager who survived the sinking, said passengers had begged the skipper to anchor the ferry at a sandbar when the storm hit mid-stream, but he refused. “Then the storm became more intense and the boat split into two parts before sinking,” Ali told the local News Live television channel. Fishermen living with their families in tiny hamlets stretching along the Brahmaputra -which has a reputation as a treacherous waterway - also combed the shores for survivors. Arun Kalita, a 30-year-old road construction worker who swam to safety, said: “I could hear many people screaming for God’s help but it was a turbulent river and the storm was very severe. “No one could come and rescue them,” he said. The death toll could make the ferry sinking one of the worst in recent memory in South Asia, where such disasters are common due to lax safety standards, recklessness and overloading. Survivors said many passengers had continued to board the ferry even after the last tickets had been sold. The bodies of the victims were being kept at a local hospital. The boat was on its way from Dhubri, 300km from the state’s main city Guwahati, to Fakirganj. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the sinking a “tragedy” and announced compensation would be paid to the victims’ families. He said in a statement he was “shocked and grieved to know about the loss of lives” and added he had instructed all possible assistance to be given to the government of Assam. In one of the last major ferry disasters in India, at least 79 Muslim pilgrims drowned when an overcrowded boat carrying 150 people sank in the eastern state of West Bengal in October 2010.