A Bangladeshi ferry carrying about 200 passengers on board capsized in the Padma River on Monday. While 44 passengers have been saved, rescue operations were on to trace others. No deaths have been reported yet.
There were also news reports stating that 40 trawlers have gone missing in the Bay of Bengal, with the fate of several fishermen uncertain.
The ferry incident took place when it was crossing the river near Munshiganj district, which is about 30 km (18 miles) southwest of Dhaka, the chief of the district administration told Reuters.
Mohammad Saiful Hasan Badal, the Deputy Commissioner of the district, said 44 passengers had been rescued from the vessel, identified as the Pinak-6. Teams from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and the army were engaged in the rescue operation.
The incident comes just months after 50 people lost their lives in a ferry accident in the same district in May.
There were also news reports stating that 40 trawlers were caught in a storm in the Bay of Bengal. The fishing trawlers had left the Kakdwip-Frazergunj riverine coast in South 24 Parganas on Sunday and were reportedly caught in a storm that hit the region. While some have been rescued, many fishermen are still missing and some are feared dead.
