A Bangladeshi ferry with about 300 passengers on board capsized after getting caught in a tropical storm Thursday, killing at least 12 people, officials said.
Coast guards and other rescue divers claimed to have seen more bodies inside the wreck, Reuters reported.
After the M.V. Miraj-4 capsized in high winds and rain on the Meghna river near the capital Dhaka, around 40 people ended up swimming ashore, police said.
Most of the passengers were described to be city workers and students heading home for the weekend beginning on Friday.
"We fear there will be more bodies inside the vessel and we cannot be sure of the number of passengers (on board)," Saiful Hassan Badal, Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj district, told Reuters by telephone from the scene.
A couple hours into the journey, the ferry capsized after having taken off from a Dhaka terminal. While dozens of passengers floating in the Meghna river were safely brought back by rescuers, some others remain missing, CNN reported.
"Bangladesh has a history of ferry disasters, with casualties sometimes running into hundreds due to overcrowding and lack of enforcement of safety standards such as numbers of lifeboats," according to Reuters.
"Bangladesh Coast Guard diver Liton said he had pulled out the body of a child of around five and had seen several more bodies in the ferry."
Even though the river was rampant with strong currents and high waves, some of the survivors were able to swim ashore.
"There was a sudden storm and we requested the boatswain to anchor at the riverside but he ignored us ... the ferry capsized within a few seconds," said Abdur Rahman, 50, a passenger who managed to swim ashore.
The dead included women and children, police said
."We've found 12 bodies so far ... many people are still missing. We can't exactly say how many are missing," district police superintendent Zakir Hossain Majumder told CNN.
As the rescue operation proceeds, the death toll might rise, deputy commissioner Saiful Hassan Badal said.
"It was a river estuary and very deep. ... I was on the deck of the ferry and jumped off as the ferry turned aside and started sinking," survivor Shafiqul Islam said. Shafiqui survived by swimming to the shore, he told CNN.
A rescue vessel sent from Dhaka reached the scene three hours after the ferry capsized.
