At least five people have been killed and dozens more are missing in Bangladesh today after a bulk carrier collided with a ferry on a river near Dhaka, police said.
“We found five bodies,” said local police chief Shah Jaman, adding that they were a man, three women and a child.
Of the more than 60 passengers believed to be on the ferry, 22 managed to escape by swimming in the disaster on the Sitalaksia River, said Inspector Aslam Mia.
Images broadcast by the media showed passengers screaming at the time of the collision between the truck and the ferry and jumping into the polluted waters of the river as the ship sank.
A local official, Montzurul Hafiz, said coastguards and divers were involved in the search for survivors.
Ferry accidents, which are often overloaded and poorly maintained, are common in Bangladesh, where safety rules are not strict, according to experts.
In June, 32 people were killed in a ferry wreck after it collided with another ship.
In February 2015, at least 78 people were killed in a collision between an overloaded ship and a cargo ship on a river west of the capital.
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