DHAKA: At least 24 people were killed and dozens were missing after a boat filled with Hindu devotees sank in Bangladesh on 25 September, in the worst waterways disaster in the country in more than a year.
Jahurul Islam, district administrator of northern Panchagarh, said the bodies recovered so far included 12 women and eight children.
The rescue operation for those missing is ongoing, he said. The ferry took devotees to a Hindu temple.
The exact number of missing people was not known, but passengers said more than 70 people had been on board.
Some 30 people were still missing, while some of the passengers were able to swim ashore, according to the police.
Hundreds of people are killed each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a country that has extensive inland waterways and lax safety standards.
In April last year, at least 26 people died after an overcrowded ferry collided with a cargo vessel and sank on the Shitalakhsya River outside the capital Dhaka.