At least 43 people were killed and more than 150 missing when a Bangladesh ferry capsized in a storm on a river near the capital Dhaka, police said yesterday. The ferry, M.V. Maharaj, carrying some 200 passengers was sailing to the southern town of Chandpur from Dhaka when it got caught in a sudden tropical storm on the Buriganga river late on Saturday.

?The death toll includes 11 women and seven children,? an official engaged in the rescue operation said. District commissioner Harunur Rashid told about 150 people were missing 12 hours after the ferry sank.

Bodies trapped inside the vessel

Police used batons to disperse hundreds of relatives who thronged the Buriganga banks and became angry at the slow pace of the rescue. ?I am waiting to know the fate of my missing mother, sister and other relatives,? said survivor Shahidul Islam. ?Why are they taking so long ?? he said. Rescuers believe bodies could be trapped inside the vessel, which was expected to be salvaged by yesterday?s afternoon. The ferry, packed with people heading home for a holiday to mark the Muslim religious occasion of Ashura, was on a scheduled voyage when it sank.

?We felt our ferry hit by another vessel in dark. The ferry then listed on one side and began sinking,? one survivor told reporters, as rescuers piled up bodies on the river bank. ?I jumped into the water and swam to the shore,? survivor Mohammad Jasim he said. Officials said they were investigating the report. A police officer on the scene said authorities announced news of the accident on loudspeakers, urging villagers to come to identify the dead and take bodies home.

Bangladesh Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain asked mourners to remain calm. He pledged a quick investigation into the accident and to punish those responsible, but despite repeated ferry disasters claiming hundreds of lives each year, Bangladesh lacks salvage and safety equipment.