By, Heather Warner
Rescue workers are searching for hundreds of people, after a passenger ferry capsized in Bangladesh. Water transport authorities say the accident happened Monday morning as the M.V. Pinak was crossing the River Padma in Munshiganj district in the central part of the country.
Local media reports up to 250 passengers were on board at the time.
Authorities say many details aren’t known yet about the cause of the accident, or if there were many survivors.
Local police chief Tofazzal Hossain said some of the passengers would have been able to swim to safety, but that many were feared trapped or drowned.
Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh because of poor safety standards for the vessels, which are often overloaded.
In May, about 50 people died in the same district in a similar ferry capsized.