Disaster in Bangladesh

Hundreds are feared dead as a ferry boat capsizes off the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh.

The ferry, was carrying around 500 passengers, was capsized during a storm in the early hours of Saturday morning. The Bangladeshi authorities state that around 100 passengers have been picked up from the accident scene in the Meghna River.

The ferry boat, the MV Salahuddin, was a triple-decker craft which was swamped by the waves. The large number of passengers would have made escape through life rafts and access to life-belts difficult in the circumstances.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru