The death toll from Sunday’s pilgrims boat sinking in northern Bangladesh rose to 32 on Monday, with some 30 to 40 people still missing, a senior police official said.
SM Sirajul Huda, superintendent of Panchagarh District Police, has said that seven more bodies were retrieved from the Karatoya river in Bangladesh’s northern Panchagarh district, 468 km away from the capital Dhaka.
According to the official, the jam-packed boat, carrying some 100 passengers, sank on Sunday afternoon.
“Another seven bodies were recovered on Monday morning, which brings the total death toll to 32 from 25 on Sunday,’’ the official said on phone Monday afternoon.
“A search operation is still underway for 30 to 40 people still missing,’’ he said, adding that the boat had been dragged to the bank.
The police official said rescuers had been working against a strong current and choppy river waters.
“The boat sank due to overloading,’’ he said.
Ferry and boat disasters are common in Bangladesh, crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers.
The ferry is still a key means of transport in South Asian countries and most of them are often overcrowded.
