Bangladesh halts ferry search

After 40, ‘no more bodies’ said found; missing’s kin angry

Relatives wait on the banks of the Meghna River as rescuers try to tow the ferry that capsized Friday in Munshiganj, Bangladesh.
Relatives wait on the banks of the Meghna River as rescuers try to tow the ferry that capsized Friday in Munshiganj, Bangladesh.

MUNSHIGANJ, Bangladesh -- Rescuers called off the search for missing passengers of a sunken ferry in central Bangladesh today after retrieving 40 bodies, causing anger among relatives of those still unaccounted for.

The chief of Bangladesh's water transport authority, Shamsuddoha Khandaker, said that divers would leave the River Meghna site where the ferry M.V. Miraz-4 sank in a storm on Thursday. There was confusion over how many passengers were onboard, and authorities would not provide any complete list.

"We are calling off the search, as the ferry has been towed to the bank and we found no more bodies. In total, our rescuers found 40 bodies," he said.

Ferry operators in Bangladesh usually do not maintain a list of passengers, and none was available in the latest disaster, said local administrator Saiful Hasan.

"I haven't got my brother, where is he? Why do authorities stop searching?" asked Mohammad Moniruzzaman.

Before 11 more bodies were recovered today, police had estimated that at least 100 were still missing.

Rescue diver Masudul Haque said he had recovered nine of the bodies, but many victims were trapped in cabin rooms.

"We have recovered the bodies mainly from the lower deck and other open spaces but could not open the doors of the cabin rooms where many passengers took shelter after the storm had hit," Haque said. "I tried to open those doors but could not as huge volumes of sand have buried many of the doors."

Relatives of the missing and the dead gathered on the banks the Meghna River, near where the boat capsized Thursday afternoon in Munshiganj district. Several bodies, covered in cloth, were laid out on the ground.

"I came here yesterday for my brother, but I don't have any trace yet. Nobody can assure me of anything," said Lokman Hossain, a relative of one of those missing.

Sabuj, a passenger who jumped overboard when the ship began to sink, said he was among about 25 survivors who swam to safety.

He said the captain of the double-decker ferry ignored the passengers' calls to stay close to the shore as the storm started brewing.

"But he continued to steer the ship" out into the water, said Sabuj, who uses one name.

Authorities think the crew might have run away, on the basis of accounts from surviving passengers. "We are looking for them," said local Police Chief Ferdous Ahmed.

The estimate of at least 100 missing is based on preliminary claims by family members and relatives, Ahmed said. Police said they are being conservative about the estimate.

On Friday, many family members of the missing were using country boats to scour the river in search of their loved ones, and an official used a loudspeaker to ask the relatives to move away from the accident site.

A salvage ship failed to pull out the ferry in the afternoon as strong currents in the 60-foot-deep water made sand cover the vessel.

The ferry was apparently overcrowded and its lower deck was loaded with goods, said Mohammad Ali, a director of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

In 2012, at least 150 people died when a ferry carrying about 200 people capsized at night in the river.

In 2003, an overcrowded ferry capsized in flood-swollen waters at the confluence of the Padma, Meghna and Dakatia rivers near the capital, Dhaka. About 400 people died.

A Section on 05/17/2014

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