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Post by ferryfast admin on Feb 27, 2006 23:47:05 GMT -5
Many missing after ferry capsizes
At least 20 people are said to be missing after a ferry capsized in Bangladesh on Monday.
Police say the boat carrying over 100 pilgrims drowned in a river near the southern town of Barisal.
Many passengers swam to safety. One unconfirmed report said a body had been found inside the ferry.
Hundreds of people die in Bangladesh every year in ferry disasters. Overloading, ill-maintained boats and bad weather are usually blamed.
"The mishap occurred when the overloaded boat capsized on the Kirtankhola river in fair weather" a police officer told Reuters news agency.
The Associated Press news agency quoted a survivor Mosadeq Al-Madani as saying that most passengers had swum ashore because the boat capsized close to the bank of the river.
He said local people had found a body inside the boat, but officials did not confirm this.
An independent study has blamed the government for failing to enforce laws which could check ferry disasters in Bangladesh.
The Alliance for Safe River Routes campaign group said that ferry accidents have claimed more than 4,000 lives in the past 34 years.
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