12 killed as ferry carrying 200 sinks in B’desh river

At least 12 people, including a child, on Thursday drowned and hundreds were missing when an overcrowded ferry carrying over 200 passengers capsized in a storm in Bangladesh’s Meghna river.

Ten bodies have been recovered and a search is underway for the other passengers after the MV Miraj-4 ferry sank in the Meghna river in Munshiganj district this afternoon during a seasonal nor’wester storm.

‘The storm hit it (ferry) over an hour after it left Dhaka’s Sadarghat ferry terminal for its destination at (southwestern) Shariatpur,’ Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj district Saiful Hassan told reporters.

‘The (death) toll now stands at 12,’ he said, adding that it was still not clear exactly how many passengers were on the ferry but the number could range from 200 to 350 as it sank mid-river.

Shipping officials said two salvage vessels were on their way to the scene from nearby river port town of Narayanganj to locate and retrieve the sunken ferry.

Police said fire service rescuers and local people recovered the bodies.

A similar accident was also occurred in South Korea where about one month after the sinking, 284 bodies have been retrieved and 20 others are listed as missing. Only 172 people, including 22 of the ship’s 29 crew members, survived. Most of the victims were students from a single high school near Seoul.