Bangladesh ferry carrying 200 passengers capsizes near Dhaka

A Bangladeshi ferry carrying about 200 passengers has capsized south-west of capital Dhaka, officials say.

The bodies of two people have been recovered from the River Padma where the boat went down in Munshiganj district, 20 miles from Dhaka.

Emergency teams have rescued 100 people from the vessel, the Pinak-6.

Accidents are common on Bangladesh’s river network and scores of people are killed every year, with overcrowding and poor boat quality often to blame.

Boats are the main form of travel in some rural parts of the country.

It was not immediately clear what caused Monday’s accident.

“We have heard that the ferry was overloaded with passengers and the river was rough,” local police chief Tofazzal Hossain told AFP news agency.