37 dead, many missing in Bangladesh ferry accident

Dhaka : A ferry packed with people going home for Eid Al Adha capsized as they disembarked in southern Bangladesh, leaving at least 37 dead and scores missing, authorities said Saturday.

Police and fire brigade divers pulled 37 bodies from the sunken part of the ferry, local police officials Saiful Islam and Showkat Hussain said. Many of the dead were women and children.

The officials said some of the missing were feared trapped inside the ferry.

It was unclear how many people were on board when the boat capsized. Dhaka's private ETV television station said the ferry was carrying more than 1,500 people, adding many had already disembarked when the accident occurred. Gas torches were used to cut open submerged cabins, and local residents joined police and fire brigade divers to search for survivors inside the ferry, he said.

The triple-deck ferry, M.V. Coco, was travelling late on Friday from Dhaka to the coastal town of Bhola and was crowded with people heading home to celebrate the Eid Al Adha festival, he said.

It tipped and its rear portion sank in the Tetulia River as many passengers scrambled to disembark at a terminal near Bhola, 104km south of Dhaka, witnesses said. Anxious relatives searched for missing loved ones."I'm looking for my brother," said Al Ameen. "In all 10 of our family members were returning home for the Eid. All of us except my teenage brother survived." Ameen said he and others jumped to the shore as the ferry started tilting at the terminal.

It was unclear how many people were on board when the boat capsized.

Dhaka's private ETV television station said the ferry was carrying more than 1,500 people when it left Dhaka. It said many people had already disembarked when the accident occurred.