Bhola, Nov 28 (bdnews24.com)—At least ten bodies, seven of them children, have been retrieved from a Lalmohon-bound launch that partially capsized late on Friday at Nazirpur, some 40 kilometres from Bhola town.

Saiful Islam, second officer of Nazirpur Police Station, said most of the victims were from Charfashion and Lalmohan upazilas in Bhola, where families learned of the tragedy in the early hours of Saturday, Eid day.

The MV Coco-4 was carrying more than double capacity with an estimated 1,000 passengers from Dhaka, officials said.

Its capacity, as inscribed on the vessel, was 600 passengers in the day and 446 at night.

Families, trying to reach home for the Eid holiday, were crammed into the cargo hold of the vessel, said passengers who boarded the launch in Dhaka.

The launch left Sadarghat at 11am on Friday. Witnesses said its hull was damaged as the vessel moored at Nazirpur Ghat at around 10:30pm.

Dozens of passengers were injured as they tried to jump from the overloaded launch that began tilting after the hull was breached.

Police, district officials, fire fighters and locals joined in rescue work through the night, recovering the bodies of women and children from the hold.

Assistant deputy commissioner of Bhola, Nuruddin Al Faruq, told bdnews24.com that rescue vessel Hamza of Bangladesh Inter Water Transport Corporation headed for Bhola Saturday morning.

Local authorities said ten bodies were recovered up to mid-morning.

The dead were identified as two-year old Faruk, three-year old Kabita, seven-year old Surabhi, eight-year old Toma, 12-year old Ripon, 15-year old Tamanna, 25-year old Aklima, 40-year old Khosh Bahar and 45-year old Shahnoor. Another body of a two-year old remained unidentified.

However, locals said at least four more bodies had been taken away by relatives before authorities could identify them.

About 50 passengers still remained missing, locals said.

bdnews24.com/corr/su/rah/1208h