DHAKA : At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed today when an overcrowded ferry with over 150 passengers sank after a collision, in the latest maritime tragedy to hit Bangladesh within 10 days.
The ferry was heading to Paturia from Daulatdia in Rajbari when it was hit by a cargo trawler, a senior police official of Manikganj district said.
The site is 40 kilometres northwest from here.
Bidhan Tripura Manikganj police chief said a total of 11 bodies have been retrieved so far, of whom four were women, six men and one child.
Besides them, a six-month-old girl rescued from the Padma river in which the ferry sank was later declared dead at the hospital.
However, unofficial sources put the total number of deceased at 15, and said the figure was expected to rise.
A survivor said his wife and mother-in-law are still missing.
Another survivor, who was near the edge of the ferry before it sank, said the people in the cabin did not get a chance to escape.
Most of the passengers were rescued by nearby boats and a joint salvage operation by naval authorities, including the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), is still underway.
The master of the cargo vehicle Nargis-1 and his assistant was detained on the charges of hitting the ferry. Their cargo trawler was also seized.
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. (AGENCIES)
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