The death toll in a ferry accident in central Bangladesh soared to 69 yesterday, after emergency workers recovered more bodies from the wreckage of an overcrowded boat that sank after colliding with a cargo vessel.
Authorities said “several” people were still unaccounted for after the ferry sank within just two minutes of the collision on Sunday, making it all but impossible for passengers below deck to escape.
“This morning the bodies were found in the boat after it was raised and dragged to the shore,” police inspector Abdul Muktadir said after a salvage vessel raised the sunken ferry from the water. “The death toll is now 69.”
Government administrator Rashida Ferdous said most of the estimated 150 people on board had been accounted for.
Those who were on the upper deck were able to swim away or were rescued by other boats.
“Almost all those died were helplessly trapped inside the lower deck after the boat sank,” Ferdous said.
Rescuers worked through the night to recover bodies after the collision on the Padma River about 70km west of the capital Dhaka.
Hundreds of people, including relatives of the missing, thronged the shore early yesterday as rescuers searched inside the salvaged vessel and brought out the bodies.
The government has ordered an investigation into the accident. Bangladeshi Minister of Shipping Shahjahan Khan said the ferry had been “in a race” with the cargo vessel.
Survivors said the MV Mostofa was overcrowded with passengers, leaving them scrambling to find their loved ones when the tragedy struck.
Three people have been arrested, including the driver of the cargo vessel. The captain of the sunken vessel was still missing.
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