Death toll rises to 69 as sunken Bangladeshi ferry salvaged

The death toll in Sunday's ferry disaster in Bangladesh's northwestern Manikganj district has risen to 69 with the recovery of 28 more bodies on Monday.

The district's administration chief Rashida Ferdous said the ferry MV Mostafa was lifted by a salvage ship on Monday.

"Divers and villagers have retrieved a total of 69 bodies from inside the sunken ferry and nearby areas where it capsized on Sunday afternoon," she said.

MV Mostafa, which was reportedly carrying about 150 people, capsized in the Padma river at Sunday noon (0600 GMT) after it was hit by a cargo tanker.

Police and rescue officials said about 50 people swam to the shore and 30 others were rescued.

"Forty-one bodies were recovered until Sunday night," said Shafique Alam Mehdi, secretary Bangladesh's Ministry of Shipping.

Among the total 69 bodies, he said 68 had been handed over to their families.

The Ministry of Shipping has announced a grant of 20,000 taka ( about 256 U.S. dollars) for the burial of each dead.

After nearly two days of relentless efforts, rescuers managed to salvage the ill-fated ferry Monday afternoon.

Ferdous said some people still remained missing as the search efforts continued.

Hundreds of relatives and friends of the passengers gathered at the accident scene on Monday to identify the dead or in quest of the missing.

Some of the relatives spent the night at a temporary shelter center set up on an island while many flocked there in the early morning.

Ferry services in Bangladesh never maintain list of passengers and none can exactly say how many passengers a ferry carries.

Boats and ferries are still commonly used as key means of transportation in Bangladesh which is criss-crossed by about 250 rivers.

However, accidents often take place as the vessels are usually overloaded or badly maintained.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation and the river police have already formed separate probe bodies to look into the cause of the accident.

At least 100 people drowned after an overcrowded ferry with more than 200 passengers aboard capsized six months ago in the Padma river. Enditem