DHAKA – At least 26 people were killed in a collision between two boats in central Bangladesh today, said police.
“We have rescued five people and retrieved 26 bodies,” local police chief Miraz Hossain told AFP.
The collision occurred between a packed boat carrying over 30 passengers and a vessel transporting sand in the Padma River near the town of Shibchar.
More people are reportedly missing, with rescue operations by fire officials and locals ongoing, said another cop.
Maritime accidents are common in Bangladesh, a delta nation criss-crossed by hundreds of rivers.
Experts blame poor maintenance, lax safety standards at shipyards, and overcrowding for many of them.
Vessels transporting sand sit low in the water and can be hard to see in choppy conditions, particularly when light is poor.
Early last month, more than 30 people died when a packed ferry with some 50 passengers hurrying home from the central city of Narayanganj ahead of an impending Covid-19 lockdown collided with a larger cargo vessel.
In June last year, a ferry sank here after it was hit from behind by another, killing at least 32 people.
In February 2015, at least 78 people died when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo boat. – AFP, May 3, 2021
