Death toll hits 51 in B’desh ferry disaster

DHAKA, Tuesday (Reuters) Hundreds of people crowded a river bank in Bangladesh on Tuesday, many wailing in grief as they searched for dozens of loved ones feared drowned when an overloaded ferry sank and killed at least 51 people, witnesses said.

Nearly 40 people were still missing after the twin-deck ferry, the M.V. Prince of Patuakhali, went down on Sunday during a storm in the choppy Tentulia river at Galachipa, 350 km (220 miles) south of Dhaka.

Officials said they expected to end the search for survivors on Tuesday but grieving relatives told reporters they would stay there for days to find their loved ones, dead or alive.

Zahirul Islam lost his wife in the disaster but was waiting for word about his 12-year-old son after the ferry was salvaged late on Monday. ?I cannot go home without my only son,? a local reporter quoted the weeping father as saying.