DHAKA: A sunken river ferry in Bangladesh was officially abandoned on Monday after almost two weeks of fruitless efforts to salvage the multi-deck boat from its watery grave.

“We are calling off the salvage operation on the sunken vessel because of the strong currents, the gusty winds and the depth of the river bed,” said senior government official Abdur Rab Howlader.

The M.V. Nasreen lies buried under the sand and silt of the Meghna river with the remains of the hundreds of passengers who were on board when the ferry capsized near the riverside town of Chandpur, 95 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka, on July 9.

Chandpur, a farming town in central Bangladesh, is located at the confluence of the swift-flowing Meghna and Dakatia rivers.

“By abandoning the salvage efforts we will never know the extent of the latest ferry tragedy,” said Howlader, who is Chandpur’s district commissioner.

Some 350 passengers remained unaccounted for and their bodies are believed to be inside the sunken vessel. Ferries in Bangladesh do not have passenger lists and do not issue tickets so the number of casualties can only be estimated.

Howlader said he had received orders from the shipping ministry not to waste government money on salvaging the remains of the ferry from the worst river tragedy in Bangladesh’s recent history.

According to witnesses and survivors, more than 800 people were travelling on the crowded triple-deck ferry which left Dhaka with passengers and cargo bound for the island district of Bhola in southern Bangladesh.

The ferry was caught in a local storm and capsized. Some 200 people jumped into the water. The bodies of another 250 passengers were picked up from the river by fire brigade rescue workers and local volunteers.

Most bodies plucked from the swirling water several kilometres downstream from the site of the disaster were beyond recognition and were buried in mass graves on the river banks.

Navy and coast guard divers found the sunken ferry a week ago lying buried in the sandy river bed, a senior navy commander said.

Navy Captain Shahiduz Zaman said the Nasreen was found about 60 metres under the surface of the Meghna river.

Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh which is criss-crossed by rivers but the Nasreen tragedy raised a political outcry over the lack of safety on usually overcrowded water transports. Opposition parties have demanded the resignation of Shipping Minister Akbar Hussain.—dpa