Dhaka, July 14: The ill-fated river ferry which capsized six days ago was still untraced today even as the official death toll rose to 164 with 86 more bodies being found, and over 360 people were still missing. Efforts to spot and salvage the M V Nasreen-I ferry, which went down with almost 800 people on board, seem to fade as a strong current and heavy downpour failed the divers to go beyond 50 feet deep.
The ferry had capsized while attempting to anchor at Chandpur Ghat (terminal) at around 11 pm on July 8. Nearly 300 people, some with injuries were rescued. Fresh salvage work began this morning. At least 12 ships - nine from Biwta, two from Bangladesh Navy one from Bangladesh coastguard took part in the salvage work. Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia yesterday directed the administration to adopt stringent measures to prevent ferry accidents, as some 140 officials and employees were withdrawn from Sadarghat, the biggest ferry terminal in the country.
At a high-level meeting with Shipping Minister Colonel (Retd) Akbar Hossain and senior officials, Zia asked to take appropriate steps to contain overloading and disallow incompetent crews to ply the ferries, official sources said. Bureau Report