At least 67 people have died following a boat tragedy on Sunday in northern Bangladesh… A few of the passengers aboard the boat were going to a historic temple to observe a significant Hindu festival.
The death toll from a boat accident that occurred in Bangladesh rose to 67 on Tuesday, after rescue teams retrieved more than a dozen bodies.
More people are still missing, and rescue operations will continue Wednesday, police officials said.
Bangladeshi Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan also visited the accident area on Tuesday.
A committee to probe the incident has been set up.
Relatives mourn deaths of loved ones, await news
An overcrowded boat carrying around 90 people overturned on Sunday in a river close to the town of Boda, about 330 kilometers (210 miles) northwest of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.
About 50 people on the boat were pilgrims headed to a centuries-old temple to mark the beginning of a big Hindu festival, police officials said.
Relatives of the people who were on the boat have been crowding the banks of the river, hoping for news about their family members.
Rescue teams on Monday retrieved bodies miles away from where the accident happened. Sujay Kumar Roy, Boda’s police chief, said firefighters, navy divers, and villagers were all searching for miles downstream of the Karotoa river, where the accident happened.
A police official said the boat was carrying three times as many people as permitted. Deadly accidents like the one that happened Sunday occur every so often in the South Asian country, which experts blame on a lack of safety regulations.