At least 24 people have died and at least 25 are missing, after a ferry featuring Hindu pilgrims shipwrecked in a river in Bangladesh.
“Firefighters and divers are looking for more bodies,” local police officer Shafiqul Islam told AFP, adding that 24 deaths have been confirmed so far, most of them women and children. According to the police, there were nearly 50 Hindu pilgrims on the boat.
I am deeply saddened by the death of 25 people in Pancagarh due to the boat capsizing. Today is Mahalaya and Bodeshwari Shaktipeeth held special Mela. The boat capsized at the Korotoya River due to overcrowding! Still 20+ missing.
I only visited here last month
condolences pic.twitter.com/rAmMsG92il
– ছেলে (@iSoumikSaheb) September 25, 2022
Pilgrims were on their way to an ancient temple when the ship suddenly capsized and sank in the middle of the Karotoa River near the town of Boda in northern Bangladesh.
A police officer said at least 25 people are still missing. Local media, for their part, reported that at least ten people were rescued and taken to hospital.
Footage shot with a mobile phone and broadcast on Channel 24 television showed the overcrowded boat suddenly capsized and threw passengers into the brown river. Dozens of people watching from the shore, about 20 meters away, started screaming.
The weather was good at the time of the tragedy.
Thousands of mainly Muslim Bangladeshi Hindus visit Bodeshwari Temple every year. This Sunday kicked off the Durga Puja, the largest Hindu festival in the country – as well as in eastern India – which draws crowds to the temple.
Shipping disasters caused by poor maintenance and passenger overcrowding are common in the country.
Source: DN
