Dhaka, Aug 5 (IANS): A day after an overloaded ferry capsized in the Padma river in Bangladesh, rescuers failed to trace the sunken vessel in the face of high waves and strong winds, an official said Tuesday.
The overloaded ferry Pinak-6 carrying 250 passengers capsized in the Padma, one of the three rivers that form the Ganga delta, at around 11.15 a.m. Monday, Xinhua reported.
Bangladeshi Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan Tuesday said a vessel, which is capable of locating a sunken ferry, has been called in to aid rescuers' efforts to find it.
Many of the sunken ferry's passengers are believed to be trapped below deck.
A police official said that 120 people, who survived by swimming ashore, were rescued shortly after the ferry capsized in high winds and rain on the Padma's Maowa-Kewrakandi river route.
According to the officials, some 120 more people remained missing.
The bodies of four victims have been recovered so far.
Hundreds of relatives and friends of the passengers of the ill-fated ferry Tuesday gathered at the accident site.