Bangladesh ferry death toll rises to 62 after 4 additional bodies found
By: FARID HOSSAIN
Associated Press
11/30/09 12:10 AM EST
DHAKA, BANGLADESH — The death toll from the capsizing of a ferry over the weekend in southern Bangladesh rose to 62 Monday after rescuers recovered an additional four bodies, police said.
Rescuers plucked four bodies overnight from River Tetulia, where the overcrowded triple-deck ferry capsized late Friday, police official Mohammad Bayezid said.
The M.V. Coco was packed with hundreds of travelers leaving Dhaka to head home for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha when it tilted and went down after reportedly hitting a river shoal.
It started to take on water as it arrived at Nazirhat town in the coastal district of Bhola, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of the capital.
Rescuers said many of the bodies were pulled out from inside the submerged cabins and hulls of the ferry after it was righted by a rescue ship on Sunday.
Bayezid said the rescue operation resumed Monday after halting overnight, with divers going inside the vessel's water-filled hull.
He said the ferry was still sitting in waters and the rescue ship was trying to drag it closer to the shore to make it easier to conduct a thorough search inside.
Authorities said there were no passenger lists, so it was unclear how many people were aboard the vessel, but Dhaka's private ETV television station said it could have been carrying more than 1,500 people. The boat was approved to carry 1,000 people.
Officials would not say how many remained unaccounted for. Dhaka's mass circulation Prothom Alo daily said it could be 50.
