The dying toll from the sinking of an overcrowded ferry carrying Hindu devotees in northern Bangladesh climbed to 61 on Tuesday, with many passengers nonetheless lacking two days after the catastrophe.
Onlookers and family of the lacking gathered alongside the riverbank as rescuers looked for our bodies, witnesses mentioned.
“I simply wish to see the face of my mom,” Deepak Chandra Roy mentioned, talking via tears as he looked for his mom. His son was rescued.
The useless recovered up to now included 28 ladies and 18 youngsters, mentioned Jahurul Islam, chief administrator of the northern district of Panchagarh, the place the accident occurred.
“Divers are looking for extra our bodies as some are nonetheless lacking,” he mentioned, including that the ferry had been taking Hindu devotees to a temple on the event of Mahalaya, when Hindus make choices to their ancestors.
The dying toll was the worst for a maritime catastrophe within the nation since 2015, when at the least 78 individuals died after an overcrowded ferry collided with a cargo vessel in a river west of the capital, Dhaka.
A five-member committee was investigating Sunday’s sinking however preliminary stories prompt the boat was carrying virtually 3 times its capability, Islam mentioned.
Police mentioned that, whereas a few of the passengers managed to swim ashore or have been rescued, about 10 have been nonetheless lacking. Passengers mentioned greater than 80 individuals had been on board.
Dozens of individuals die annually in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a low-lying nation that has in depth inland waterways and lax security requirements.
