Death toll from Bangladesh river ferry sinking now at 61

Reuters reports that the search effort being conducted in the wake of a river ferry sinking in northern Bangladesh earlier this week has led to the recovery of additional bodies, raising the incident’s confirmed death toll to 61.

On Tuesday, September 27, a local official informed reporters about the increase in the number of fatalities from the incident, which occurred in Panchagarh district just two days prior.

Twenty-five people who were on the ferry were initially reported to have died. The death toll reached 50 on Monday, September 26, as divers pulled additional bodies out of those same waters during the subsequent search and rescue/recovery (SAR) operation.

Local police meanwhile said the SAR operation will continue as a number of passengers are still missing.

An ongoing investigation seeks to ascertain whether the ferry was carrying three times its rated passenger capacity when it sank.

The Panchagarh ferry sinking last Sunday is the deadliest maritime accident to occur in Bangladesh since February 22, 2015, when more than 70 people were killed after the passenger ferry M L Mosta capsized in the Padma River near the capital Dhaka following a collision with a cargo ship.