At least 56 people were killed and many others missing after two passenger ferries collided pre-dawn Friday in central Bangladesh, causing one of them to sink, police said.
The ill-fated ferry M.L. Rajhangshaw carrying between 250 and 300 passengers was hit by another mid-river amid thick fog and immediately went down, a district police officer in the riverport town of Chandpur told AFP.
Between 56 and 58 bodies had been recovered during day-long rescue efforts, he said.
The accident took place near Borerchar Island, not far from Chadpur, 43 kilometers (27 miles) south of Dhaka.
The search for victims and the sunken ferry, lying some 17 feet (5.1 meters) under water, was continuing with the arrival of the government salvage vessel Hamza, he said.
Some survivors were rescued by several ferries passing the area after the accident at around 3:30 am (1530 GMT), another local police official said, but could not give any figures.
In May, at least 127 people were killed after two small ferries in central Bangladesh sank in separate incidents within 15 kilometers (10 miles) of each other after being hit by bad weather.
Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed by 230 rivers, and are blamed on overloading or untrained skippers -- DHAKA (AFP)
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