By Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- A pall of gloom has descended over villages near Bangladesh capital Dhaka after divers dragged 21 more bodies from inside a sunken ferry Monday afternoon. With the recovery of the bodies, the death toll of Sunday's ferry sinking accident rose to 26.

Ershad Hossain, senior duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters, told Xinhua that the bodies were recovered from the river of Shitalakkhya in Narayanganj district, about 20 km from the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

The jam-packed ferry, carrying some 50 passengers, sank on Sunday night.

"Another 21 missing bodies were recovered on Monday afternoon which takes the number of total death toll to 26 from five on Sunday night," Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Chairman Commodore Golam Sadeq told journalists.

The sunken vessel has been dragged to the river bank, he said.

A search is reportedly still underway as several passengers are still believed to be missing.

TV images from the scene showed dead bodies in white bags which were retrieved from the sunken vessel.

As the news of the accident and subsequent retrieval of the bodies reached the villages in Narayanganj and adjacent areas, the wailing relatives rushed to the river banks and police stations to collect the bodies.

Ferry services in Bangladesh usually fail to maintain an accurate list of passengers, making it hard to determine the exact number of passengers onboard.

Hossain told Xinhua earlier that the passenger vessel, ML Sabit Al Hasan, capsized after it was hit by a cargo vessel in the river at around 6:00 p.m. local time Sunday.

"We've come to know that the ferry was carrying about 50 passengers," he said.

According to the official, some passengers were able to swim ashore after the ferry capsized, while some were reportedly stuck in the cabins on the ferry following the collision.

Witnesses told local TV stations that the cargo vessel fled the scene after the collision.

Two probe committees have been formed to investigate the incident.

Ferries are a key means of transport in Bangladesh, which is crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers. Most of the ferries are often overcrowded, and boat disasters are common.

At least 30 were killed after a ferry carrying scores of people sank in the river of Buriganga in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in June last year. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)