DHAKA
\nAt least 23 people were killed and several dozen more were missing on Sunday after a boat capsized in a river in Bangladesh, police said.
\n\u201cWe have recovered 23 bodies. Firefighters and divers are searching for more bodies,\u201d local police official Shafiqul Islam told AFP.
\nThe boat was packed with up to 50 Hindu pilgrims, police said.
\nThey were travelling to a centuries-old temple when the vessel suddenly tipped over and sank in the middle of the Karotoa river near the town of Boda in northern Bangladesh.
\nAnother police officer said up to 25 people were still missing. Local media said at least 10 people were rescued and sent to hospital.
\nThousands of Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh visit the Bodeshwari Temple every year.
\nSunday marked the start of the Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu festival in Bangladesh and also eastern India \u2014 drawing large crowds at the temple.
\nBoat tragedies caused by poor maintenance and overcrowding are common in Bangladesh, a poor nation crisscrossed by rivers.
\nA ferry sank in Dhaka last year after a collision with another vessel, killing at least 32 people.
\nAt least 78 people died in February 2015 when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo vessel in a river west of the capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DHAKA At least 23 people were killed and several dozen more were missing on Sunday after a boat capsized in a river in Bangladesh, police said. \u201cWe have recovered 23 bodies. Firefighters and divers are searching for more bodies,\u201d local police official Shafiqul Islam told AFP. The boat was packed with up to 50 Hindu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n