Bangladesh ferry disaster: Scores of bodies found trapped in cabins

Rescue workers in Bangladesh have recovered dozens of bodies from the cabins of an overcrowded ferry that sank in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The death toll from the disaster has soared to 112 since the wreckage was pulled closer to shore and raised, The Hindu reports.

The MV Shariatpur-1 capsized at 3am local time after colliding with a cargo vessel in the Meghna river, 20 miles south of the capital Dhaka, the Press Trust of India says, describing the event as the "one of the worst boat tragedies in Bangladesh in recent times."

Thirty-five survivors were rescued from the water, while around 40 more managed to swim to shore

"There are no more bodies inside the ferry but police will remain deployed to check if there are any more bodies around," the local police chief Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan told Associated Press.

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The news agency's correspondent described seeing hundreds of anxious people, "many of the them weeping," gathered at the scene of the disaster awaiting news of their loved ones.

Among the crowd was a woman named Parul who said she was waiting for news of her newly-married brother, who on the ferry with 16 others returning from his wedding party, Nine MSN said.

She said only four of the 17 had survived; two bodies had been recovered, but the bridegroom and others were still missing.

"Bring my brother back, give them all back," Parul reportedly wailed, beating her chest. "I want to see their faces, please take me to them."

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CNN spoke to Mohammad Dulal Dewan who was traveling to Dhaka with his family and brother-in-law, who was due to leave for the United States on Wednesday. 

"We were seven in a cabin in the ferry, and six of my family members are still missing," Dewan is quoted as saying. "Everything happened before I could understand anything."

Overcrowded and unregulated ferries often run in to trouble in Bangladesh's extensive network of rivers and waterways, euronews explains, adding that hundreds of people are killed in accidents every year.