Bhola, Nov 29 (bdnews24.com)— The death toll climbed to 46 Sunday afternoon with the recovery of 11 more bodies as salvage vessel MV Hamza re-floated the partially capsized MV Coco-4.

The vessel arrived in the morning at Nazirpur in Bhola, the scene of Friday night disaster, and lifted the sunken tail-end of the launch helping the rescue operation in the hull.

Of the newly found six bodies, two were children, said local Awami League leader Jashiumddin.

Some 20 passengers are still unaccounted for.

The accident occurred late on Friday when the launch was trying to anchor at Nazirpur terminal on Tetulia river, some 40 kilometres from Bhola district town.

The launch from Dhaka was carrying more than triple its capacity with over 1,500 passengers.

Tragedy greeted families in Bhola on Eid day as 35 bodies, most of them women and children, were recovered throughout Saturday.

Divers called off rescue operations as darkness fell and high tide came in on Saturday night. The rescue work resumed on Sunday morning.

The Hamza, a rescue vessel of Bangladesh Inter Water Transport Corporation, took more than 24 hours to arrive on the scene, setting off from bordering district Barisal in Saturday morning.

Officials said the river was low at this time of year, which caused poor navigability.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, now in Port of Spain attending a Commonwealth summit, expressed her grief Saturday over the launch disaster and ordered speedy rescue operations and investigation into the accident.

The president also expressed his sorrow condolences for the grieving families.

The government formed a five-member probe, committee headed by deputy shipping secretary Baitul Amin Bhuiyan, officials said. It was asked to submit a report within seven working days.

bdnews24.com/corr/su/rah/bd/1320h