Dozens missing after passenger ferry capsizes in Bangladeshi river

A passenger ferry carrying at least 50 people has capsized on a river near the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, officials said on Monday.

Rescuers have been trying to locate the vessel, which went down after colliding with another passenger ferry in the morning near Farazganj, in Buriganga River, said Commodore Golam Sadeq, chief of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

He told local media that 10 to 15 passengers on the ferry, the ML Morning Bird, had managed to swim ashore while the rest went missing.

A survivor told private broadcaster 71 Television that the vessel was carrying at last 100 passengers.

The survivor said he was travelling to Dhaka along with his brother who is still missing. They had set out from his village home in the central district of Munshiganj, 30 kilometres south of Dhaka.

Serious accidents involving boats and ships and leading to fatalities are quite common in Bangladesh, a country of many rivers.

Experts blame poor safety measures and the lax implementation of regulations.