Dozens die after Bangladesh pilgrims boat capsizes

DHAKA — A boat carrying about 100 religious pilgrims capsized on Sunday in a river in northern Bangladesh, leaving at least 40 people dead, police said.

The small boat packed with mostly women and children on their way to a popular temple flipped over in a river. Onlookers and relatives of the missing gathered along the riverbank as rescuers searched for bodies.

Those recovered so far included 22 women and 11 children, said Jahurul Islam, district administrator of Panchagarh, where the accident occurred.

"Divers are searching for more bodies as some are still missing," he said, adding that the ferry was taking Hindu devotees to a temple on the occasion of Mahalaya, when Hindus make offerings to their ancestors.

A five-member committee was investigating the sinking but initial reports suggested the boat was carrying almost three times its capacity, Islam said.

The incident in a remote northern area was the latest in a string of similar tragedies blamed on poor maintenance and overcrowding in the low-lying delta country.

Mobile phone footage aired by TV station Channel 24 showed the overcrowded boat suddenly flipping over, spilling passengers into the muddy brown river.

Dozens of people watching from the shore started shouting and screaming. The weather was calm at the time.

Thousands of Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh visit the centuries-old Bodeshwari Temple every year. Sunday marked the start of Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu festival in Bangladesh and also eastern India, drawing large crowds to the temple.

Last December, around 40 people perished when a packed three-story ferry caught fire in southern Bangladesh. A ferry sank in Dhaka in June 2020 after a collision with another vessel, killing at least 32 people.

Agencies via Xinhua