Bangladesh Ferry Sinking: About 450 People On Board Ferry, At Least 14 Dead

Local officials have estimated that at least 450 people were on board Pinak-6, a ferry that sank Monday morning near the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.

A ferry with at least 200 people on board sank in the Padma River in Bangladesh’s Munshiganj district, about 18 miles southwest of the capital Dhaka, local police said Monday.

Although no immediate details were available, Tofazzal Hossain, the officer-in-charge of a local police station, said that the ferry, the Pinak-6, was travelling to Mawa in the country’s south and on the eastern side of the river, from Kaorakandi ferry terminal on the river's west bank, the Daily Star, a local newspaper reported. The report added that the ferry sank at 11:00 a.m. local time (1:00 a.m. EDT) due to high currents.

"We have heard that the ferry was overloaded with passengers and the river was rough," Hossain reportedly told Agence France-Presse, according to BBC.

Although no casualties have been reported yet, Mohammad Saiful Hasan Badal, the deputy commissioner of the district, told Reuters that 44 passengers have so been rescued from the river. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, which controls the country's inland water transport network, reportedly sent two teams to the location to help with rescue operations, and is being assisted by the country’s military.

In May, another ferry, carrying 200 passengers, capsized in the Meghna River near Dhaka, killing at least 29 people. More than 100 were reported missing from the ferry while 35 people were reportedly rescued.