Death toll in Bangladesh boat tragedy rises to 60

Twenty six more bodies were recovered on Monday after a boat carrying religious pilgrims capsized in Bangladesh, taking the death toll to 60with at least a dozen people still missing, police said. The small boat was packed mostly with women and children. The incident happened near the remote northern town of Boda. The people were on their way to a centuries-old Hindu temple when the boat flipped over on Sunday in a river as onlookers screamed from the shore.

It was the latest in a string of similar tragedies blamed on poor maintenance and overcrowding in the low-lying delta country.

Also Read |At least 24 killed, several missing after ‘overcrowded’ ferry capsizes

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Regional police chief Sirajul Huda said fire service and navy divers recovered 26 bodies in the Karotoa River downstream from where the boat tipped over. It was carrying around 90 people, of whom around 50 were pilgrims, according to police. Huda said up to 15 people were still missing.

He also informed that the boat was carrying three times its capacity.

"There were heavy rains in the morning and that is why when the ferrying began, pilgrims packed the boat to make it quickly to the temple," he told AFP.

"The boatman asked some people to disembark in an effort to ease the weight-load. But no one listened," he said.

Local media said at least 10 people had been rescued and sent to hospital.

TV channels beamed mobile phone footage of the boat toppling over, spilling the passengers into the muddy brown river.

Thousands of Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh visit the famous Bodeshwari Temple every year.

Sunday marked the start of Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu festival in Bangladesh, and also eastern India, drawing large crowds at the temple.