A search is
still on for survivors from a ferry that capsized during a storm on the
Brahmaputra river in India's Assam state.
At least 103 are believed to have been drowned, and another 100 are
still missing.
Police said the
ferry broke in two after capsizing, and many of the victims were swept away by
the river’s strong currents. One
survivor said he managed to cling on to a log and was then rescued by local
people.
Many ferries on
the river are considered to have poor safety standards and accidents are
common. According to one police
officer, the ferry was overloaded with people and goods, and it carried no
lifeboats or life jackets.
Probably the
worst ferry disaster, and the worst peacetime maritime disaster ever, was the
sinking of the Dona Paz in the
Philippines in 1987, in which up to 4,300 people drowned. (See also my blogs of Aug 7, Sept 6 and 26,
Nov 18 and Dec 30, 2009.)
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