Update: Bangladesh Ferry Tragedy Toll Rises To 54

Siddique Islam – AHN Correspondent Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) – The death toll from ferry capsize in the country’s southeastern Bhola district rose to 54, police confirmed on Sunday evening. “We’ve recovered 54 bodies so far. We fear that more people are trapped in the sunken ferry,” district police chief SM Nazrul Islam told AHN Media over telephone, from Nazirpur, 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of the capital, Dhaka. Mr. Islam also said the rescue operations were suspended temporally on the day as the divers could not reach the bottom-deck due to darkness and will resume on Monday morning. The Bangladesh government has formed a five-member investigation committee to find out the cause of the fatal ferry mishap. The probe body has been asked to report its findings within seven days to authorities concerned. “The committee has started their investigation,” district administrator Mejbahul Islam told AHN without elaborating. The ferry MV Coco-4, a local inland vessel, capsized in Tetulia river on late Friday when the passengers tried to get down from the ferry in a mess before it was anchored in the remote southern coastal village of Nazirpura. The tragedy might have occurred as the ferry was over loaded with passengers. The ferry was burdened with three times more passengers than it’s capacity of 650, local officials said. The ferry was en route Lalmohon upazila (sub-district) of Bhola from the capital, Dhaka on Friday afternoon packed with the people travelling to their village homes to celebrate Eid ul-Azha, the second largest Muslim religious festival. Millions of people have left the capital for their home villages across the country by trains, buses and ferries to celebrate the Eid festival on Saturday in the South Asian country. Article � AHN – All Rights Reserved