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Meghna River News

18 May 2014

Bangladesh Salvages Capsized Ferry, 54 Bodies Recovered

Rescue workers in Bangladesh completed the search of a stricken river ferry on Saturday, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 54 two days after the vessel capsized with around 200 people on board. "We were able to salvage the capsized ferry today and there are no more bodies inside the wreck," said Saiful Islam Badal, deputy commissioner of Munshiganj district. About 40 people swam to shore and 35 were rescued after the double-decker ferry went down in the Meghna river near the capital Dhaka during a storm on Thursday afternoon, police and rescue officials said. An official of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said the M.V Miraj 4 ferry had capacity for 122 passengers…

17 May 2014

Bangladesh Prepares To Find More Bodies In Capsized Ferry

Rescue workers in Bangladesh expected to find scores of bodies on Saturday trapped between the decks of river ferry that capsized two days earlier with around 200 people on board. About 40 people swam to shore and 35 were rescued after the double-decker ferry went down in the Meghna river near the capital Dhaka during a storm on Thursday, police and rescue officials said. Forty-five bodies have been recovered so far, according to officials in the Munshiganj district, and authorities have given up hope of finding anyone else alive. An official of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said that the M.V Miraj 4 ferry had capacity for 122 passengers…

16 May 2014

Finding More Bangladesh Ferry Victims Unlikely

A Bangladeshi official said on Friday there was no chance of finding further survivors of a ferry that sank in a storm with about 200 people on board, the latest in a series of fatal ferry accidents to hit the poverty-stricken country. Twenty-eight people are known to have drowned when the M.V. Miraj-4 capsized on the Meghna river near the capital, Dhaka, on Thursday. About 40 people swam to shore and 35 were rescued, police and rescue officials said, meaning about 100 people were unaccounted for as wailing relatives thronged the river bank. "Now it is more than 20 hours since the ferry sank, so there is no possibility to find anyone alive inside the vessel," Saiful Hassan Badal, deputy commissioner of Munshiganj district, told Reuters.

15 May 2014

Update: Bangladesh Ferry Death Toll Rising

A Bangladeshi river ferry with around 200 passengers on board capsized in a storm on Thursday, killing at least 12 people, and a rescue diver said he had seen more bodies inside the wreck. Police said some 40 people had swum ashore as the M.V. Miraj-4 capsized in high winds and rain on the Meghna river near the capital Dhaka. Most of the passengers were city workers and students heading home for the weekend beginning on Friday. "We fear there will be more bodies inside the vessel and we cannot be sure of the number of passengers (on board)," Saiful Hassan Badal, Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj district, told Reuters by telephone from the scene.

15 May 2014

Bangladesh Ferry Capsizes, 6 Confirmed Dead

A Bangladeshi ferry with around 200 passengers on board capsized in a river near the capital Dhaka on Thursday, with police reporting that at least six bodies had been recovered with a rescue vessel still on the way to the site. The M.V. Miraj-4 ferry capsized in stormy weather in the Meghna river at Rasulpur in Munshiganj district, 27 kilometres from Dhaka. The accident occurred at around 3:30 pm (0930 GMT). The ferry had been going to Shariatpur from Dhaka. "We are heading to the spot with rescue team," said Saiful Hassan Badal, Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj district told Reuters. He said the navy and coast guard were sening rescue teams and a ship had been sent from Dhaka.

15 Mar 2012

IMO Reaffirms Commitment to Ferry Safety

IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu.

IMO reaffirms its commitment to domestic ferry safety after Bangladesh disaster. IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has offered his condolences and sympathies to the families of all those who lost their life aboard the passenger ferry Shariatpur-1, which sank yesterday (13 March 2012) after being hit by a small cargo ship in the Meghna River, south-west of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. Speaking to the Organization’s Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR)…

13 Dec 1999

Bangladesh Ferry Disaster Claims At Least 63 Lives

A ferry disaster on Bangladesh's southern Meghna river claimed at least 63 lives and scores more were missing, officials said. The M.L. Falguni capsized and sank on Dec. 11, and officials said there were 200 people aboard at the time. Rescuers had retrieved 63 bodies when the search was called off on Dec. 12 when the ferry was salvaged and towed to shore, but police said fishermen and relatives continued hunting for missing passengers. About 150 passengers swam to small islands in the river or were picked up by other vessels after the ferry went down about 10 miles (15 km) from the shore, officials and police said. The government has called an investigation into the accident.