Dhaka: A catastrophic accident has occurred on the Shitalakshya River in Bangladesh. A boat carrying more than 100 passengers collided with another cargo vessel, ML Sabit al-Hassan, killing 27 people.
The incident took place on Sunday evening, Bangladesh police said.
Some drowned along with the boat, while 20 some swam to the shore and survived.
Authorities said 22 bodies were recovered on Sunday and another 5 bodies were recovered on Monday.
The Navy, Coast Guard, Fire Service, and police forces were involved in the extraction.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BITA) has announced that the process of rescuing passengers after the accident has been completed.
Hundreds of stood by the shore and watched the extraction of the sunken ferry from the heavily polluted Shitalakshya River of the central district of Narayanganj.
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A local police officer told that the ferry was packed with passengers after the government announced that a seven-day lockdown will be enforced across the country in order to combat the latest increase in cases of coronavirus.
Mustain Billah the local police officer informed that at least 46 people were transported when the ferry left.
Chief Dipak Saha, the local police said rescue efforts had been hindered by the heavy storm which hit after the accident for hours.
In Bangladesh, ferry accidents are common. Millions of people rely on ferries for transportation, especially across the country’s southern coast, but the carriers have a poor safety record.
Many of the accidents, according to experts, are the result of poor maintenance, liberal safety standards at shipyards, and overcrowding.
Bangladesh is going Under lockdown for a week, all domestic transport services including buses, ferries, trains, and flights will be stopped from Monday. Shops and malls will be shut down for a week and a night curfew will be in effect.
The public and private sectors are given orders to keep a handful of employees in their offices.
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