Five more bodies fished out of Brahmaputra

Five more bodies were fished out of the Brahmaputra River on Thursday morning, taking the death toll in Monday's ferry disaster to 113, even as the search for more bodies resumed after remaining suspended for the night.

Five more bodies were fished out of the Brahmaputra River on Thursday morning, taking the death toll in Monday's ferry disaster to 113, even as the search for more bodies resumed after remaining suspended for the night.

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A senior district administration official told PTI that the bodies were recovered from Jogomaya area which is some distance downstream from the accident site of Medartary ghat.

The search operation by the National Disaster Relief Force, the Border Security Force and the Army resumed this morning after being suspended for the night.

The official said the death toll is likely to climb as the chances of finding anybody alive are very remote after 65 hours of the boat tragedy took place.

Meanwhile, senior BSF personnel, along with Assam state officials, are scheduled to meet their Bangladeshi counterparts today in a flag-meeting to discuss the issue of recovery of bodies of the ill-fated passengers of the ferry which capsized after being hit by a storm.

The ferry, which operated without a licence, was carrying more than 350 persons, including a large number of women and children. Around 80 passengers had managed to swim ashore safely after the accident.