The death toll from a capsized ferry in Bangladesh rose to 66 with scores still missing as rescuers raised lifted the sunken vessel from the riverbed Wednesday, March 14, M&C reported citing DPA.

“Rescuers have retrieved 26 more bodies from inside the boat while towing it to the shore,” district administrator Azizul Alam said.

The ferry with more than 250 passengers aboard collided with a cargo vessel and sank near Charjhapta, 60 kilometres south of Dhaka, Tuesday morning.

Rescuers were preparing to do a full-scale search inside the vessel.

“The rescue operation will continue until we find all the missing passengers,” said Alam, who is supervising the operation.

People had thronged the riverbank waiting for news of missing relatives and friends, police officer Mohammad Sahabuddin Ahmed said.

Witnesses said earlier that about 50 passengers had swum to shore.