With the recovery of four bodies of minors today, the death toll in the boat capsize in south- central Bangladesh climbed to 18.
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ML Oishi with around 60 people on board, capsized at Dasherhaat point while its passengers started to get down after it anchored there, the Dailystar online reported citing the police.
“So far we have recovered 13 bodies including three women and a child”, Barisal police chief Mohammad Akhteruzzaman told the AFP news agency.
Most of those onboard were able to swim ashore while five passengers were rescued, he said.
Bangladesh is a country with extensive inland waterways.
Boat accidents are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed with some of the world’s mightiest rivers including the Brahmaputra and the Padma, the main tributory of the Ganges.
While the government has launched an investigation into the accident, an official at the Barisal Port Authority said the boat was overcrowded.
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Every year hundreds of people lose their lives as boats sink due to overcrowding, one of the common factors in numerous accidents, or poor maintenance of the vessels. A ferry accident in February past year left 69 people dead in central Bangladesh, just a fortnight after five others were killed when an overloaded ferry sank.
