Death toll rises to 39 in Bangladesh boat capsize

Bangladeshi authorities were racing against time on Monday to find any survivors of the boat accident involving Hindu devotees even as the death toll in the incident rose to at least 39 mostly children and womenThe devotees were heading towards the Bodeshwari Temple on the occasion of Mahalaya the auspicious start of the Durga Puja festival when the overcrowded boat capsized in the Korotoa River in the countrys northwestern Panchagarh districtOur rescuers retrieved nine more bodies overnight search is continuing a fire service official told reporters at the sceneSome bodies were found in a river in Dinajpur The bodies had reportedly washed away due to strong current another official saidPanchagarh Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue Dipankar Roy said that a total of 39 bodies have been recovered so far Among them 11 are children 21 are women and 7 are men the Bdnews24com reportedAlso Read Amid Rajasthan crisis Kamal Nath called to Delhi likely to meet Sonia SourcesMedia reports quoting relatives said 58 passengers were missing while officials earlier said the boat was believed to be carrying as many as 80 passengersThe preliminary investigation shows that the boat was overcrowded Roy head of the probe body was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune newspaperHowever he also noted that there may be other reasons behind why the boat sank but that will be revealed after the committee finishes its investigation the paper saidThe boatman had asked some people to disembark to ease the weightload But no one listened said Solaiman Ali the administrative chief of the subdistrictEyewitnesses claim that there were more than 150 passengers on the boat Some people swim back to the river bank but many remain missingRoy said fire service in Panchagargh is leading the search effortsThe Durga Puja is the biggest Hindu festival in Bangladesh and in eastern IndiaDeltaic Bangladesh is crisscrossed by several hundred rivers while hundreds of people die each year in boat and ferry accidents in Bangladesh largely due to overcrowdingEarlier in May 26 people died after an overcrowded speedboat collided with a sandladen bulk carrier and sank on the Padma RiverThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever