DATE=05/04/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BANGLADESH/FERRY (S-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-289421

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=NEW DELHI

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: UPDATES 2-289417 ///

INTRO: In Bangladesh, dozens of people are believed to have drowned when a ferry capsized. Nearly 100 others are believed to have survived, but there are conflicting accounts of how many people were on the ferry, with officials claiming 150 passengers, but survivors saying there were as many as four-hundred people on board. V-O-A's Jim Teeple has details from our South Asia bureau in New Delhi

TEXT: The ferry was traveling from the capital, Dhaka, to the city of Patuakhali on the heavily traveled Meghna River, about 150 kilometers from Dhaka.

Survivors say they were two hours into their journey when a tropical storm began around midnight, causing the ferry to capsize in heavy swells.

Survivors who managed to swim to shore say many of their fellow passengers were swept away in the fast moving current.

Rescue and salvage operations are underway, and officials say an accurate count of just how many people died in the disaster will not be possible until the ferry can be raised from the river bottom.

Ferry accidents have killed more than one-thousand people in Bangladesh since the mid 1980's. With many wide and navigable rivers, ferry travel is a primary mode of transport for millions of Bangladeshi's. But ferries are often overloaded, and travel in hazardous weather conditions, resulting in frequent accidents. (Signed)

NEB/JLT/TW