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Bangladesh ferry capsizes on River Padma near Dhaka

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Relatives face an agonising wait, reports the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan

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

The bodies of two people have been recovered from the River Padma where the boat went down in Munshiganj district, 30km (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.

bbc map
Bangladeshis mourn for their missing relatives after an overloaded ferry capsized in the Padma river in Munshiganj, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, on August 4, 2014.AFP

Many relatives broke down on hearing the ferry had sunk

Bangladeshi onlookers gather near the scene where an overloaded ferry capsized in the Padma river in Munshiganj, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, on August 4, 2014.AFP

Crowds gathered on the banks of the Padma as rescue teams searched for survivors

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.

In May about 50 people died when a ferry sank in the same district.

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