DHAKA - A ferry with about 200 passengers aboard capsized on Monday in the river Padma, near Munshiganj district, about 30 km (18 miles) southwest of Dhaka, the chief of the district administration said.

Mohammad Saiful Hasan Badal, the Deputy Commissioner of the district, said 44 passengers had been rescued from the vessel, identified as the Pinak-6. No deaths had yet been reported.

Teams from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and the army were engaged in the rescue operation.