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At least 25 people were killed and dozens went missing after a boatload of Hindu followers sank in Bangladesh on Sunday, a local official said, in the worst water disaster to hit the country in more than a year.
The bodies recovered so far have included 12 women and eight children, said Jahurul Islam, a district administrator of northern Panchagarh, where the accident took place.
“The rescue operation for the missing is underway,” he said, adding that the ferry mainly took devotees to a Hindu temple on the occasion of Mahalaya.
Islam said he did not know the exact number of the missing, but passengers said more than 70 people had been on the boat, which sank in the Karatoya River.
A committee has been formed to investigate the incident, he said.
Police said nearly 20 people were still missing, while some passengers managed to swim ashore or were rescued.
Hundreds of people die each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a low-lying country with extensive inland waterways and lax safety standards.
At least 34 people died in April last year after an overcrowded ferry collided with a cargo ship and sank on the Shitalakhsya River outside the capital Dhaka.
(REUTERS)
