A boat carrying Hindu devotees to the centuries-old Bodeshwari Temple capsized in the Korota river in northeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, killing at least 24 people, including women and children, and leaving more than a dozen people missing.
The incident happened in Bangladesh’s Panchagarh district when the devotees were travelling in the boat to the Bodeshwari Temple on the occasion of Mahalaya, the auspicious start of the Durga Puja festival.
“Around 24 people have died in the boat capsizing incident. Of the dead eight are minor children and 12 are women . . . some of them were declared dead after they were brought to a local hospital,” said Solaiman Ali, administrative chief of Panchagargh’s Boda sub-district.
He added that searches for the missing were being conducted by firefighters and local divers, and that the number of passengers was estimated to be between 70 and 80.
According to Ali, the engine-powered boat was carrying Hindu devotees to the centuries-old Bodeshwari Temple during a celebration.
Thousands of Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh visit the Bodeshwari Temple every year during the Durga Puja, which began in Bangladesh on Sunday.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued statements condoling the Sunday’s incident while local officials were asked to take steps for survivors treatment and compensation for the dead.
Deltaic Bangladesh is crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, and hundreds of people are killed each year in boat and ferry accidents in Bangladesh, mostly owing to overcrowding.
In May, a crowded speedboat crashed with a sand-laden bulk cargo and drowned on the Padma River, killing 26 people.
