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River conditions hamper rescue
19/05/2005 20:51 - (SA)
Aricha - Relatives of scores of people feared drowned in a Bangladesh ferry capsize faced a second day of waiting on Thursday as the death toll rose to 10 and poor river conditions hampered the search.
A salvage vessel had reached the scene and diving equipment arrived by helicopter late on Wednesday, but currents five times stronger than usual and poor weather were making it difficult for divers to work, officials said.
"The heavy diving equipment has helped the divers, but it is still impossible for them to search the sunken launch," said the head of the search operation, Lieutenant Commander Mahbubur Rashid of the Bangladesh navy.
"They are also finding it difficult to find any suitable points on the boat to attach ropes so the salvage vessel can lift it off the river bed."
Police said eight bodies were recovered early on Thursday, bringing the official death toll to 10. The bodies were found floating seven kilometres downstream.
The twin-decked "MV Raipura" went down on Tuesday with at least 100 people on board. The ferry capsized during a storm in the Padma river at Aricha, about 100km west of Dhaka.
An unofficial list compiled by relatives from the nearby Pabna district suggested at least 84 people were missing.
Several thousand people, many of them deeply distraught, continued to wait on the river banks on Thursday, desperate for news of family members.
Sonu Banu, 50 said her son, four daughters and a cousin had been aboard the ferry when it sank.
"My daughter Bilqis had just got married," she said in tears. "She was on her way to the other side of the river with her new husband to live with his family."
Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, where a network of 230 rivers provides daily transport for more than 100 000 mostly poor, rural people.
More than 3 000 people have died in at least 260 accidents since 1977.
The ferries are often unstable and prone to capsize quickly due to overcrowding and illegal cabin enlargements carried out by ship owners to maximise profits.
In February 150 people died in an accident near Dhaka. The latest sinking occurred only two days after another disaster in the south of the country that claimed at least 60 lives.
After February's tragedy, shipping minister Akbar Hossain pledged immediate action to reduce the number of lives being lost.
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