DHAKA: At least 25 people were killed and dozens were missing after a boat packed with Hindu devotees sank on Sunday in Bangladesh, a local official said, in the worst waterways disaster to hit the country in more than a year.
The bodies recovered so far included 12 women and eight children, said Jahurul Islam, district administrator of northern Panchagarh, where the accident occurred.
“The rescue operation for those missing is ongoing,” he said, adding the ferry was taking mostly devotees to a Hindu temple on the occasion of Mahalaya.
Islam said he did not know the exact number of people missing, but passengers said more than 70 people had been on the boat, which sank in the Karatoya river.
A committee has been formed to investigate the incident, he said.
Police said nearly 20 people were still missing while some of the passengers managed to swim ashore or were rescued.
Hundreds of people die each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a low-lying country that has extensive inland waterways.
At least 34 people died in April last year after an overcrowded ferry collided with a cargo vessel and sank on the Shitalakhsya River outside the capital Dhaka.
Bangladesh ferry accident kills 25, several missing
https://arab.news/9c9jb
Bangladesh ferry accident kills 25, several missing
- Passengers said more than 70 people had been on the boat, which sank in the Karatoya river
- Hundreds of people die each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a low-lying country that has extensive inland waterways
Suspect arrested after a fire damages a historic Mississippi synagogue
- The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967
- The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, likely at one of the local churches that reached out
Congregants and leaders vowed to rebuild a historic Mississippi synagogue that was heavily damaged by fire and an individual was taken into custody for what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson.
The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants were injured in the blaze.
Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement.
He did not provide the name of the suspect or the charges that the person is facing. A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they are “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”
The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building.
“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, in a Facebook post.
“This wasn’t random vandalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.
“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Greenblatt said.
The congregation is still assessing the damage and received outreach from other houses of worship, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and past president of the congregation. The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely at one of the local churches that reached out.
“We are a resilient people,” said Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper in a statement. “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”
One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.
The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.
“A lot of times we hear things happening throughout the country in other parts, and we feel like this wouldn’t happen in our part,” said chief fire investigator Charles Felton “A lot of people are in disbelief that this would happen here in Jackson, Mississippi.”
