Bangladesh: Scores die as ferry sinks    • 4-21-2011
_52287638_bangladesh_dec10.gifAt least 23 people have died and
dozens are missing after a ferry carrying more than 100
passengers capsized in a river in eastern Bangladesh.  The ferry
went down after hitting the wreckage of another ferry in the
Meghna river in Brahmanbaria, 80km (50 miles) from the capital,
Dhaka, police said.  Many passengers were able to swim ashore to
safety.  But rescuers said the toll was expected to rise with
some passengers believed to be trapped inside the ferry.  Ferry
accidents are fairly common on Bangladesh's vast river network
and scores are killed every year.  Most are blamed on poor
safety standards and overcrowding.  A team of divers from Dhaka
was searching for more bodies and survivors. Officials said a
second team of divers was on their way from the capital.
"Divers are trying to retrieve more bodies from the sunken
ferry," news agency Reuters quoted senior police official
Zahurul Islam Khan as saying from the scene.  A