23 killed in Bangladesh on way to Mahalaya ceremony after boat capsizes on Karatoya river
India Today
According to witnesses, a boat packed with passengers going towards a temple on the occasion of Mahalaya sank in the middle of the Karatoya river on Sunday afternoon.
At least 23 people drowned and several more went missing after a boat capsized on the Karatoya river in Panchagarh district in Bangladesh on Sunday.
The accident took place in Auliar Ghat area under Marea Union Parishad. According to eye-witnesses, a boat carrying passengers heading from Aulia Ghat towards Badheshwar temple on the occasion of Mahalaya--an auspicious occasion in the Hindu calendar marking the arrival of Goddess Durga--sank in the middle of the river on Sunday afternoon.
Though many passengers were able to swim ashore, women and children drowned in the river.
Soon after getting information, Panchagarh deputy commissioner Mohammad Zahurul Islam and superintendent of police S M Sirajul Huda rushed to the spot. The deputy commissioner said 23 people drowned as the boat was packed with passengers. "The bodies recovered so far include women and children," said Islam adding that the rescue operation for those missing is underway.
A five-member team has been formed to probe the incident. Islam said he did not know the exact number of people missing but passengers pegged the number of people aboard the ship at 70.
Naval officials said more than 95% of Bangladesh's hundreds of thousands of medium and small-sized boats do not meet the minimum safety standards. But millions of people in Bangladesh rely on boats and ferries to travel to the capital Dhaka or other major cities.
Scores of people die each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, which has extensive inland waterways.
