32 drown as Bangladesh ferry capsizes

Dhaka, June 29

At least 32 people drowned and many were missing when a ferry carrying over 100 passengers capsized in Buriganga river after it was hit by a bigger vessel in the Bangladeshi capital today.

“It appeared to be an accident caused by negligence of the drivers,” an official of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said. Rescuers feared several passengers were trapped inside the ferry which sank at around 9:30 am with nearly 100 passengers on board in the Buriganga river along the Shyambazar area of Old Dhaka. “Thirty two bodies have been retrieved so far. Search is on for the missing ones,” the BIWTA official said.

According to news channels, the victims include five women and two children. The victims are yet to be identified. The ferry — Morning Bird — which was coming to Dhaka from Munshiganj, capsized after it was hit by another launch ‘Moyur-2’ near the Sadarghat launch terminal.

Following the accident, the driver and other staff of Moyur-2, which was carrying some 1,000 passengers, immediately left the scene and went into hiding, the police said. Navy and coast guard divers joined the fire service rescuers while a BIWTA salvage ship was deployed to retrieve the sunken Morning Bird, described by eye witnesses as a small dilapidated vessel, which quickly capsized after being hit from behind by the bigger vessel Moyur-2.

It is not clear how many people swam to safety or how many are still missing. “The muddy water is disrupting the rescue operation, affecting divers’ visibility,” a fire service official said. Poor safety standards of vessels and their reckless driving have been repeatedly blamed for frequent ferry accidents in Bangladesh. In most of the cases, the ferries carry passengers beyond their capacity. — PTI