At least five persons, including a minor, were killed today when an overloaded ferry carrying 200 passengers, mostly devotees, capsized in a river in Bangladesh, in the latest maritime tragedy to hit the country.
Coast Guard members recovered the floating bodies around in the Paira River, Babul Akter, officer-in-charge of Taltoli Police Station said.
Five bodies have been recovered and five people are still missing in the accident which occurred in the southern coastal district of Barguna, Akter said.
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"Most of the passengers were able to swim ashore," an he said, adding that the rescue operation is underway.
The vessel was carrying devotees from Kuakata. They were heading for Barguna to attend a religious festival at Chalabhanga darbar sharif, the Daily Star reported.
"Coast Guard conducted its salvage operation," Akter said.
"Cracks developed as the boat was overloaded, and ultimately it capsized," he said, adding that the number of missing people remain unknown.
Last month, rescuers recovered eight bodies from a fishing boat that capsized in the Bay of Bengal off the Bangladesh coast carrying migrants to Malaysia.
Last August, another ferry sank in a river in Bangladesh, killing about 130 people.
