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Seven more remains were found by rescuers today after a boat carrying religious pilgrims sank in Bangladesh, bringing the death toll to 32, with much more still unaccounted for, according to authorities. On Sunday, a tiny boat filled largely with women and children that were traveling to a well-known shrine capsized in a river as bystanders gasped in terror from the shore.
The tragedy in a distant part of the north was the most recent in a spate of disasters of a similar nature in the low-lying delta nation that were attributed to neglect and overcrowding.
According to district police commander Sirajul Huda, the seven remains were discovered in the Karotoa river downstream from the location of the boat’s capsize close to Boda. More than the up to 50 pilgrims who, according to the police on Sunday, were on board, it carried about 90 individuals.
According to Mr. Huda, “Sixty persons are still missing.”
“Three times its weight was being carried. When the ferry service started, pilgrims crowded the boat to get to the temple as soon as possible because it had been raining heavily earlier “explained Mr. Huda. “In an effort to lighten the load, the boatman urged some passengers to disembark. But nobody paid attention “he stated.
According to local media, at least 10 individuals were saved and sent to a hospital. The overcrowded boat abruptly overturned, sending the passengers into the murky brown river, as seen on a mobile phone video by TV station Channel 24. Dozens of onlookers on the shore who were shouting and screaming soon began. There was no wind at the time.
The centuries-old Bodeshwari Temple receives tens of thousands of Hindu visitors each year in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Durga Puja, the largest Hindu holiday in Bangladesh and eastern India, began on Sunday, drawing a sizable crowd to the temple.
A crowded three-story ferry in southern Bangladesh caught fire in December of last year, killing about 40 people. In June 2020, a ferry sank in Dhaka after colliding with another boat, killing at least 32 passengers. And in 2015, when an overcrowded ship crashed with a cargo ship in a river west of the capital, at least 78 people lost their lives.
