A ferry carrying nearly 200 people capsized and sank in a river in Bangladesh after it was hit by a storm on Thursday.
As of Friday the death toll is 26, but scores more are still missing, the Associated Press reported. It is not clear how many people were onboard the ferry that sank in the River Meghna in the central Munshiganj district.
The ferry operators did not keep a passenger list, Saiful Hasan, a local administrator, told the
AP.
At least 40 people were rescued by fishing boats or were able to swim to the shore as the ferry began to tilt, Shamsuddoha Khandaker, Bangladesh's water transport authority chief, told AFP.
Two salvage ships dragged the double-decker sunken ferry to the shore to determine if bodies could be inside.
"Many of the passengers rushed to lower decks of the ship to escape from heavy wind. They were trapped. I am afraid most of the bodies will be found in there," Khandaker told AFP.
Survivors said the captain disregarded pleas to remain close to the shore as the storm grew violent.
"The sky became black and dozens of us pleaded with him to take the ship to the nearest shore as we saw the storm coming. He did no listen to us," Mohammad Ali, a garment worker who was on the ferry, told AFP.
"The storm unleashed three huge waves. The ferry survived the first two, but the third tilted and then sank the vessel within minutes," said Ali, whose wife and 6-year-old son were also on the ferry.
Ali told AFP his wife and son did not survive.
Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, caused by a combination of poorly maintained vessels, overcrowding and a lack of rule application, the AP reported.
Nearly 150 people drowned when an overcrowded ferry in the Munshiganj district carrying 200 people was hit by an oil barge and sank in March 2012, AFP reported.