Hundreds are feared dead in ferry disaster

A ferry packed with about 300 people has collided with a cargo boat and capsized in a Bangladeshi river, killing 31 people and leaving up to 200 more missing.

By The Newsroom

Published 13th Mar 2012, 21:05 BST

The dead included a young woman found cradling her baby’s lifeless body, local police chief Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan said.

“The death toll is likely to rise as more bodies are feared trapped inside,” he said.

About 35 people were rescued after the ferry sank early in the morning on the Meghna River, just south of the capital, Dhaka. Divers have recovered 31 bodies from inside the sunken ferry.

Hundreds of anxious people, many of them weeping, gathered near the scene.

The MV Shariatpur-1 was travelling to Dhaka from neighbouring Shariatpur district.

Survivor Dulal Dewan described the chaos as the ferry and cargo boat collided.

“I was awakened with a big jolt,” said the businessman, who had been asleep on the top deck. “I jumped into the river in darkness as the ferry started going down.”