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According to reports, a passenger ship collided with a cargo ship laden with sand on a lake in the town of Bjornagar in eastern Bangladesh.
A ship full of passengers and a cargo ship full of sand collided in a lake in eastern Bangladesh, killing at least 21 people and missing dozens of others.
According to local official Hayat-ud-Doula Khan, when the incident occurred on a lake in Bijoynagar town on Friday, the ship was reported to be carrying about 60 passengers.
He said that the steel tip of the cargo ship collided with the ship, causing the passenger ship to capsize.
“So far, we have found 21 bodies, including 9 women and 6 children,” he told AFP, adding that the death toll may rise.
It is unclear how many people were on board at the time of the collision and how many people were missing. According to police officer Imranul Islam, the survivors said there were about 100 people on board.
Taufiqul Islam, a spokesman for the local fire department, said that divers were searching for corpses at the scene and were mobilizing reinforcements from neighboring towns. Locals also joined the rescue operation.
Police said at least seven people were taken to a local hospital after being rescued from the sunken ship.
‘Boom’
Survivor Akhi Akter said that she traveled on a passenger ship with her son, mother-in-law and brother-in-law.
“When the accident happened, I managed to swim back to the bank. But the whereabouts of the rest of my relatives are still missing,” she said in tears.
According to a report by the Dhaka-based “Daily Star”, an eyewitness said that two cargo ships collided with the ship and the ship sank quickly.
“I am grazing cattle by the pond. I heard a loud noise and saw a cargo ship hit a passenger trawler. I saw the trawler sinking rapidly,” witness Nurul Amin told the newspaper.
The area is located 82 kilometers (51 miles) east of the capital Dhaka. The local authorities have set up a committee to investigate the accident.
This is the latest in a series of similar incidents in South Asian countries. In April and May, 54 people were killed in two separate ship capsizing accidents.
Experts attribute many fatal accidents to poor maintenance, lax safety standards in shipyards, and overcrowding.
The ships transporting sand are located low in the water and are difficult to see in rough conditions, especially in low light conditions.
In June last year, a ferry sank after being hit by another ferry from behind in Dhaka, killing at least 32 people. In February 2015, an overcrowded vessel collided with a cargo ship, killing at least 78 people.
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