More than 60 people were feared drowned after a two-year-old river ferry sank in a storm in Bangladesh just three weeks after a similar accident killed nearly 500 people, police said today.
Police Superintendent Abdullah Al-Azad said about 100 people were on board the M.L. Suraha when it went down in the Baleswar river last night.
Nearly 40 people managed to swim to safety or were rescued as the ferry sank in about 90 feet (28 metres) of water.
The body of crew member Nazrul Islam was later caught in fishing nets, but strong winds and rain were hampering rescue efforts by villagers and fishermen.
Police said they feared most of the missing were swept downstream in the strong current or were trapped inside the sunken ferry. Relatives of the missing were keeping a vigil on the river banks.