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At least 35 people, including women and children, were killed and 150 were missing when a ferry packed with 300 passengers capsized in a river in central Bangladesh after a head-on collision with an oil tanker.
While 50 people swam to safety following the mishap, rescuers retrieved 35 bodies from the sunken vessel including those of four women and three minor girls, officials said.
Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan said 150 passengers were still missing as the rescue campaign was in full swing to salvage the vessel, with the naval divers joining the effort.
The minister said that it was feared that more people were still trapped in the sunken vessel and salvage vessel was making efforts to break into the trapped ferry.
"We fear that the death toll is likely to rise as more bodies are trapped inside," the minister said while local officials said that a better picture of the casualties would be known once the sunken vessel is brought to surface.
The minister said that action would be taken against the owners of the vessel after investigations.
Confusion still prevailed over numbers of passengers involved in the mishap.
"Fifty passengers swam ashore or were rescued by nearby fishing boats and two other launches," president of Inland Waterways Passenger Career Association, Badiuzzaman Badal, told PTI.
The tragedy occurred in the river Meghna in the Munshiganj district, about 32 kilomtres south of Dhaka after the ferry collided head-on with a tanker carrying oil.
He said the vessel was coming to Dhaka's Sadarghat Terminal from western Shariatpur when it collided with the oil tanker and sank at about 3 am on Tuesday morning.
Relatives of the missing passengers have gathered on the bank of the river.
Survivor Dulal Dewan told media persons that the launch was on its way from Naria of Shariatpur to Dhaka. Dulal said eight members of his family were still missing.
"My brother-in-law Shamim Fakir and his wife Poly were among them. They were scheduled to leave for Dubai on an 11am flight," he was quoted as saying by Bdnews 24.
One shipping official said it was difficult to get a reliable estimate as ferry operators rarely keep a list of passengers. Most passengers buy tickets once on board.
Meanwhile the shipping minister announced that Tk 30,000 will be provided for a victim's family and Tk 45,000 for the family with more than one victim.