Dhaka: Many people are feared dead after an overcrowded ferry with over 100 passengers capsized today, in the latest maritime tragedy to hit the country within 10 days. The ferry was heading to Paturia from Daulatdia in Rajbari when was hit by a cargo trawler, a senior police official of Manikganj district said.
The number of people who died or are missing in the incident could not be immediately ascertained. The site is 40 kilometres northwest from here. A rescue operation is underway in the Padma river in which the ferry sank. Ferry disasters are common in Bangladesh due to poor safety standards.
On February 13, at least five persons, including a minor, were killed when an overloaded ferry carrying 200 passengers, mostly devotees, capsized in the Paira river. Last month, rescuers recovered eight bodies from a fishing boat that capsized in the Bay of Bengal off the Bangladesh coast carrying migrants to Malaysia. Last August, another ferry sank in a river in Bangladesh, killing about 130 people.
