Death toll in Bangladesh ferry disaster rises to 22 with many missing

Bangladesh rescuers have dragged out 10 more bodies, raising the death toll to 22 in the ferry accident on river Meghna, after it sank in storm on Thursday afternoon. Sources from police, fire service and navy said Friday morning that divers of fire service, navy and coast guards dragged the bodies from inside the sunken ferry, as the ferry is being dragged on the bank by the salvage ship. The ferry Mirage-4 carrying over 200 passengers departed from the capital for southern Shariatpur district and sank in storm on Thursday, Fire Service officer Nurul Islam Dulal, who is at the accident site, told Xinhua via phone on Friday morning. The salvage ship Prottoy is trying to drag the sunken ferry to the bank, which stays under 50 feet down into the river Meghna, one of the mighty rivers of Bangladesh. Relatives of the victims are seen cry for their dead relatives on the bank. The fire service officer said the ferry Mirage-4 has experienced accidents twice in the past. Inland Water Transport Authority officials say around 1,000 people die in ferry accidents in the country on average every year and the number of missing is far more.