Rescuers have managed to save some 50 passengers but the death toll could rise as several others remain unaccounted for since the accident on Sunday noon.
Double-decker MV Mostofa-3, on its way to Daulatdia, sank after being hit by cargo vessel MV Nargis-1 soon after leaving Paturia dock, Manikganj district’s Shibalay Police OC Rakibuzzaman said.
The cargo vessel’s captain and two of its crew have been arrested. The government has opened investigations into the disaster that came barely a week after a similar accident claimed seven lives in southern Bangladesh.
Executive Magistrate Kamrul Hasan at the scene told bdnews24.com that they had fished out 43 bodies until midnight but could not identify all of them.
“Twelve of them are children, 13 women and the rest men,” he said adding 22 bodies had been handed over to their families.
Video footage showed wailing relatives and locals lining the riverbank as rescuers continued to search for the missing.
Swapna Begum, 25, who survived the accident said: “Everyone was terrified. We could not believe that we would make it out alive.”
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan visited the site and announced Tk 100,000 for families of each victim. The Manikganj district administration has announced a further Tk 20,000.
Accidents on Bangladesh’s vast waterways are common that are often blamed on overcrowding and poor vessel quality.
Last year, a similar accident killed dozens in Munshiganj. In 2012, over 100 people died when a ferry sank on the Meghna after colliding with a cargo vessel.
BIWTA’s Aricha terminal officer Enamul Haq said rescue ship ‘Rustam’ joined the efforts after 11pm.
Manikganj’s Superintendent of Police Bidhan Tripura said divers of Manikganj fire service, Paturia rivers police and Daulatdia police camp were running the salvage mission.
Locals started rescue immediately after the accident with boats and trawlers. A number of ferry passengers swam to the shore and the rescue vessels.
More than a hundred passengers of two buses -- ‘Comfort Line’ and ‘Rajdhani Express’ -- were being ferried across the river, according to Paturia Dock Supervisor Jewel Rana.
Supervisor of Gopalganj route of Comfort Line Shakhawat Hossain said 10 passengers from his bus were missing.
Comfort Line Manager Hamidur Rahman Tito said they were in touch with local hospitals and officials for information on those missing.
But the number of Rajdhani Express passengers or how many were missing could not be known immediately.
The sunken vessel, weighing roughly 50 tons, had been located some 20 feet underwater, BIWTA Director Mohammad Hossain said.
A BIWTC tugboat was trying to pull it up.
The district administration has opened two control rooms at Paturia and Daulatdia docks.
A medical team from Shibalay Upazila Health Centre was at the site providing immediate attention to those being rescued.
President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have offered condolences to the bereaved families.
Hasina has ordered proper investigation into the accident.
The Department of Shipping has formed a three-member committee to look into the accident while the shipping ministry’s permanent 11-member investigation committee will also probe the matter.
Manikganj’s Additional Superintendent of Police Mijanur Rahman said a five-strong committee, headed by shipping department’s nautical surveyor Captain Shahjahan, had been ordered to submit their findings within seven days.
