Capsized ferry righted in Bangladesh; 52 confirmed dead

The M.V. Coco was packed with hundreds of travelers leaving Dhaka to head home for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha when it went down late Friday. It started to take on water as it arrived at Nazirhat town in the coastal district of Bhola, 64 miles (104 kilometers) south of the capital.

Authorities said there were no passenger lists, so it was unclear how many people were aboard the vessel, but Dhaka's private ETV television station said it could have been carrying more than 1,500 people. Officials would not say how many remained unaccounted for, but ATN television said it was as many as 80. The boat was approved to carry 1,000 people.

Some survivors said the boat hit a shoal as it approached the dock in Nazirhat, splitting the hull. As passengers scrambled to abandon the vessel, it tipped and partially sank in the Tetulia River.

On Sunday, more than 36 hours after the ferry capsized, a rescue ship used iron ropes to right the submerged ferry, exposing five more bodies inside its water-filled hull, local police official Mohammad Mahmud said.

Gas torches were used to cut open submerged cabins, and local residents joined divers to search for survivors inside the ferry. Police and fire brigade divers pulled 37 bodies from the sunken part of the vessel before darkness halted rescue work for the night on Saturday.

Police said they were waiting for a rescue vessel coming from the southern city of Barisal to pull the submerged ferry from the water, but it was unclear whether it would be able to reach the shore because of the shallow water near the bank.

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