Bangladesh 1)Ferry Accident Kills 60

Broadcast: Apr 05, 2003

 

At least 60 people were killed in Bangladesh when a ferry ^2）capsized, and about a dozen are still missing.

The ferry was packed with more than 150 passengers when it ^3）collided with a ^4）cargo vessel¹ and sank in River Surma. The accident occurred Friday night near the industrial town of Chatak, about 200 kilometers northeast of the capital Dhaka.

Police officials say many of the victims were women and children. The bulk of the passengers on the boat were laborers² and their families, and many of the men were reportedly traveling on the roof of the boat. They managed to swim to safety, while the women and children inside the boat were trapped.

Local villagers helped in the rescue of survivors³, and efforts to find more survivors were continuing Saturday. It is not clear exactly how many people are missing, because ferries traveling on local routes often do not keep passenger lists.

Authorities say the crew of the boat fled after the accident.

Ferries are a popular and cheap mode of transport in Bangladesh, a low-lying country crossed by hundreds of wide and navigable rivers. But the country has been plagued by ferry disasters. According to official statistics, about 250 ferry accidents in the past 25 years have resulted in more than two-thousand deaths. Most of the accidents are blamed on severe overloading⁴, and on poor maintenance of the boats.

One of the worst accidents occurred in May of last year, when about 500 people were killed after a 100 ton vessel sank. Following that accident, the authorities promised stricter enforcement of laws penalizing⁵ those responsible for ferry disasters.

Anjana Pasricha for VOA news, New Delhi.

 

1)    ferry [5feri]n.摆渡, 渡船

2)    capsize [kAp5saiz]v. (特指船)倾覆，翻船

3)    collided with碰撞

4)    cargo vessel货船

1 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

2 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 overloading   

过载，超载，过负载

参考例句：

• Enables multiple users to search the site without overloading the server. 使多个用户搜索网站，而无需超载的服务器上。
• The driver got stripped down again for overloading his trunk. 那位卡车司机因为超载又受到责备。

5 penalizing   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的现在分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• This is more than just penalizing a company that you are mad at. 她说：这将远远超过惩罚一个你感到不满的公司。