DHAKA, Bangladesh — A collision between a cargo ship and a small ferry killed 27 individuals and left greater than a dozen others swimming for his or her lives in Bangladesh late on Sunday, the most recent in an extended historical past of disasters on the nation’s closely trafficked waterways.
Most of the useless have been trapped contained in the ferry after it was struck by the hulking cargo ship whereas crossing a river in central Bangladesh after which capsized, the authorities mentioned.
The our bodies of 21 passengers have been recovered from the ferry after an 11-hour salvage operation to drag the vessel from the water, mentioned Golam Sadeq, chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority. The our bodies of six different passengers have been recovered exterior the ferry, and 19 passengers have been rescued after swimming from the vessel, the authorities mentioned.
Video taken from the riverbank confirmed the cargo ship plowing into the ferry, lifting it from the water and tossing passengers into the present. Hundreds of individuals gathered to observe the rescue operation, which was aided by native residents. The screams of kin crammed the air as they desperately sought to be taught the destiny of their family members.
Mustain Billah, deputy commissioner of the Naryanganj district, east of the capital, Dhaka, mentioned he had opened an investigation into the reason for the collision. He mentioned that the police, the army and the Inland Water Transport Authority have been looking for the cargo ship.
Mr. Sadeq mentioned that the authorities couldn’t cease the ship instantly after the collision due to stormy climate.
Hundreds of individuals have died in accidents on Bangladesh’s rivers in current many years. More than 30 individuals drowned in June after two ferries collided in Dhaka. In 2015, a cargo ship struck a ferry east of the capital, killing 69 individuals. In 2014, an overloaded ferry capsized in the Padma River, killing more than 100 people.
