Bangladesh Ferry Accident Kills at Least 26
A Bangladesh ferry carrying around 50 passengers collided with a cargo vessel and sank on Sunday in the Shitalakhsyaa River south of the capital Dhaka, leaving at least five people dead and many more missing, officials said.
The ferry, which departed from
Narayanganj district about 20 kilometers from Dhaka, was traveling to
Munshiganj, police official Kabir Hossain said.
“The rescue operation for those missing is
ongoing,” he said, adding some of the passengers managed to swim ashore,
Reuters reported.
The boat was packed with people
rushing to go to their hometown after the government announced a week-long
nationwide lockdown from Monday to tackle a spike in the COVID-19 cases.
Bangladesh reported a record daily
jump of 7,087 coronavirus infections on Sunday, taking its total number of
cases to 637,364 with 9,266 deaths.
Hundreds of people die each year
in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a low-lying country that has extensive inland
waterways but lax safety standards.
