The burnt out passenger ferry is seen anchored on the bank of Sugandha River
(Picture: REUTERS)At least 39 people were killed and 100 injured after a massive fire swept through a packed river ferry in southern Bangladesh, authorities said.
Terrified passengers jumped off the vessel and drowned near Jhalakathi early on Friday. Others desperately swam to shore, some with horrific burns.
The blaze on the three-decked MV Avijan-10 started as it sailed with 800 on board from the capital Dhaka to Barguna, nearly 155 miles to the south.
Fire services official Kamal Hossain Bhuiyan told local media the inferno started in an engine room at 3am, spreading quickly and burning for hours.
Rescuers recovered bodies and injured passengers from the Sugandha River.
A rescue mission is continuing and death toll likely to rise as many survivors have severe burn injuries.
One passenger, an elderly grandmother, told AFP news agency most people had been sleeping when the fire erupted.
“We were sleeping on a mat on the ground floor deck,” she said.
“My nine-year-old grandson, Nayeem, was with me, he jumped into the river. I don’t know what happened to him.”
Ferry accidents are common and often blamed on overcrowding and lax rules in Bangladesh, which is crisscrossed by about 130 rivers.
Such vessels are a leading means of transportation for 30 per cent of Bangladeshis, especially in the poorest southern and north-eastern regions.
The government has not made it a priority to tackle safety standards.
Operators are rarely punished and so defective ferries continue to carry hundreds of passengers risking their lives just to make it to work every day.
In April, 25 people died after a ferry collided with another vessel and capsized outside Dhaka.
A special committee has been set up to investigate Friday’s tragedy, according to reports.
