A ferry collided with a cargo vessel in the Shitalakhsya river in Bangladesh, south of the capital city of Dhaka, leaving at least 27 dead and a few missing, officials said on Monday.
27 bodies have been recovered, with the search still on for survivors. Around 50 passengers were on board the ferry before its accident on Sunday. Among the 27 dead, 16 were women, 9 were men and two were children.
The ferry was travelling from the industrial Narayanganj district to Munshiganj, and sank just after it department, according to Mustain Billah, the Narayanganj district administrator. It collided with the cargo ship SKL-3 at the mouth of the Syedpur Koyla Ghat at around 7 pm on Sunday.
The cargo vessel reportedly fled the scene after the collision, Dhaka Tribune reported police and onlookers as saying.
“Most of the bodies were found inside the sunken boat after it was dragged to the bank,” he said, adding a few still could be missing, Reuters reported.
Relatives of those missing in the accident have crowded the banks of the Shitalakhya searching for their relatives.
A seven-member probe committee headed by the Additional District Magistrate Kharija Tahera Bobby has been formed to investigate the accident, Billah said.
The district administration will give a compensation of Tk25,000 ($296) to each of the deceased's family for the burial process, he added.
The probe panel has been asked to submit its findings in the next five days.
BIWTA has also formed a four-member panel to probe the mishap.
The launch had an estimated 150 passengers. Port Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Deepak Chandra Saha confirmed that 50-60 of them were able to swim in the two banks, but three of them had to be rushed to the hospital.
With inputs from PTI