<p>At least 30 people died and a dozen are missing after a ferry capsized and sank Monday in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka following a collision with another vessel, rescue officials said.</p>.<p>The Morning Bird vessel was hit from behind by another ferry around 9:30 am local time (0330 GMT) during the morning rush hour, when the country's largest river port is packed with vessels.</p>.<p>"We have collected 30 bodies, including 20 males, seven women and three children," Abul Khair, a diver in the fire brigade, told AFP.</p>.<p>"There were at least 50 people on board... Our rescue divers are still searching," coastguard spokesman commander Hayet Ibne Siddique said.</p>.<p>The ferry -- which departed from central Munshiganj district -- sank as it was about to moor at Sadarghat, Dhaka's main river port used by hundreds of boats to travel to the country's south.</p>.<p>Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority's chief, Commodore Golam Sadeqk, told AFP the single-deck ship was "not overcrowded" and sank "due to carelessness".</p>.<p>He said the vessel had been cleared to carry passengers until September.</p>.<p>Witnesses told local television stations many passengers appeared to be stuck in the ferry's cabins.</p>.<p>Divers were still pulling bodies from the wreck, in waters some 40-50 feet (12-15 metres) deep. The deceased were put in body-bags before they were laid in rows at the harbour-front.</p>.<p>Another boat would later arrive to lift the damaged vessel from the water, Siddique said.</p>.<p>Relatives gathered at Sadarghat despite coronavirus social distancing concerns to search for their family.</p>.<p>"I still don't know what happened to them," a man, searching for his cousin and another relative, told reporters.</p>.<p>Boat accidents are common in Bangladesh, which is crisscrossed by more than 230 rivers.</p>.<p>The South Asian nation is heavily reliant on ferries for transport but has had a poor safety record.</p>.<p>Experts blame badly maintained vessels, lax safety standards at shipyards and overcrowding for many of the accidents.</p>.<p>In February 2015 at least 78 people died when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo boat in a central Bangladesh river.</p>.<p>The number of accidents has dropped sharply in recent years as authorities crackdown on unseaworthy vessels.</p>
<p>At least 30 people died and a dozen are missing after a ferry capsized and sank Monday in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka following a collision with another vessel, rescue officials said.</p>.<p>The Morning Bird vessel was hit from behind by another ferry around 9:30 am local time (0330 GMT) during the morning rush hour, when the country's largest river port is packed with vessels.</p>.<p>"We have collected 30 bodies, including 20 males, seven women and three children," Abul Khair, a diver in the fire brigade, told AFP.</p>.<p>"There were at least 50 people on board... Our rescue divers are still searching," coastguard spokesman commander Hayet Ibne Siddique said.</p>.<p>The ferry -- which departed from central Munshiganj district -- sank as it was about to moor at Sadarghat, Dhaka's main river port used by hundreds of boats to travel to the country's south.</p>.<p>Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority's chief, Commodore Golam Sadeqk, told AFP the single-deck ship was "not overcrowded" and sank "due to carelessness".</p>.<p>He said the vessel had been cleared to carry passengers until September.</p>.<p>Witnesses told local television stations many passengers appeared to be stuck in the ferry's cabins.</p>.<p>Divers were still pulling bodies from the wreck, in waters some 40-50 feet (12-15 metres) deep. The deceased were put in body-bags before they were laid in rows at the harbour-front.</p>.<p>Another boat would later arrive to lift the damaged vessel from the water, Siddique said.</p>.<p>Relatives gathered at Sadarghat despite coronavirus social distancing concerns to search for their family.</p>.<p>"I still don't know what happened to them," a man, searching for his cousin and another relative, told reporters.</p>.<p>Boat accidents are common in Bangladesh, which is crisscrossed by more than 230 rivers.</p>.<p>The South Asian nation is heavily reliant on ferries for transport but has had a poor safety record.</p>.<p>Experts blame badly maintained vessels, lax safety standards at shipyards and overcrowding for many of the accidents.</p>.<p>In February 2015 at least 78 people died when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo boat in a central Bangladesh river.</p>.<p>The number of accidents has dropped sharply in recent years as authorities crackdown on unseaworthy vessels.</p>