142 dead in ferry tragedy
2005-02-22 11:00
Dhaka - The number of people dead in a ferry disaster near the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, reached 142 on Tuesday amid warnings the toll could rise further, police said.
"We have found 23 bodies this morning since starting the search at 08:00 and we will continue all day because we think more bodies are floating further downstream," a police spokesperson using only the name Mostafa said.
The MV Maharaj capsised late on Saturday when it was hit by a pre-monsoon cyclone.
Police said on Monday they had recovered 119 bodies following the accident in the Buriganga River near Dhaka.
The authorities salvaged the ferry on Monday and said there were no more bodies trapped in the vessel, although many relatives said they had still not found missing family members.
The official number of passengers was 167 but survivors said there could have been as many as 500 people aboard the ferry which was sailing from the capital to the central town of Chandpur.