(Updates the number of deaths)
DHAKA, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The death toll has risen to 50 and scores of passengers are still missing on Monday, the day after an overloaded ferry carrying Hindu pilgrims sank in northern Bangladesh.
Rescuers found the bodies of 25 women and 13 children, said Jahurul Islam, administrator of Panchagarh district, where the accident occurred.
“The divers are looking for other bodies as some are still missing,” he said, adding that the ferry was carrying the pilgrims to a temple.
Initial reports from a sinking inquiry committee suggest the boat was carrying nearly three times its capacity, Jahurul Islam said.
More than 70 people had boarded, according to survivors, as authorities continued to carry out checks on the list of missing, the official added.
Police said some of the passengers managed to swim to shore or were rescued.
Hundreds of people die each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a country prone to flooding and lax safety standards. (Reportage Ruma Paul; French version Alizée Degorce, edited by Kate Entringer)
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