About 400 people are feared drowned in Bangladesh after an overcrowded ferry sank when it was sucked into a whirlpool in a rain-swollen river.
The Nasreenwas on its way from Dhaka to the southern town of Barisal when it plunged below the surface of the Meghna river at Chandpur, at around 6 p.m. Irish time yesterday.
There is no official figure for how many people were on board, but police quoted survivors saying the ferry was carrying at least 600 passengers - double its licensed capacity.
Mr Baktiar Alam, police superintendent of Chandpur district said survivors indicated that about 200 people had managed to swim to safety or were rescued.
This afternoon three bodies had been recovered from the river and one of the survivors had died in hospital, police said. At least 19 people sre being treated for injuries.
Bangladesh navy personnel attempts to locate the ship below the surface of the river were thwarted earlier today by strong and unpredictable currents and was called off for the day.
Officials said the intensity of the currents means finding bodies or remnants of the ferry could take days. The area where the ferry sank is notorious for accidents.
Rivers in the low-lying nation have swollen in recent weeks with the onset of the annual monsoon. Overflowing rivers and landslides caused by this year's monsoon have already killed 60 people in Bangladesh and another 60 in neighbouring India.
At least 450 people were killed in a similar ferry accident in May last year at almost the same spot, officials said.