DHAKA, 6 April, 2021, (TON): A Bangladesh ferry carrying around 50 passengers collided with a cargo vessel and sank on Sunday in the Shitalakhsya River south of the capital Dhaka, leaving at least 26 people dead and a few still missing, officials said. 

Most of the dead were trapped inside the ferry after it was struck by the hulking cargo ship while crossing a river in central Bangladesh and then capsized, the authorities said. 

The bodies of 21 passengers were recovered from the ferry after an 11-hour salvage operation to pull the vessel from the water, said Golam Sadeq, chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority. 

Mustain Billah, deputy commissioner of the Naryanganj district, east of the capital, Dhaka, said he had opened an investigation into the cause of the collision. He said that the police, the military and the Inland Water Transport Authority were searching for the cargo ship. 

The ferry sank just after it departed from the industrial Narayanganj district about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Dhaka, to Munshiganj. 

“Most of the bodies were found inside the sunken boat after it was dragged to the bank,” he said, adding a few still could be missing. 

Police and officials said some of the passengers managed to swim ashore. 

Rescuers, including divers from the fire brigade, were searching for survivors on Monday, while salvage operations were hampered by a storm last night. Relatives gathered at the river bank to search for their loved ones. 

The boat was packed with people rushing to leave the city after the government announced a week-long nationwide lockdown from Monday to tackle a spike in Covid-19 cases. 

Hundreds of people have died in accidents on Bangladesh’s rivers in recent decades, a low-lying country that has extensive inland waterways but lax safety standards.