A vehicle packed with schoolchildren returning home from a soccer tournament crashed into a canal in southeastern Bangladesh today, killing at least 40, a police official says. About 60 children between ages 8 and 12 were in the cargo truck that crashed, and the death toll may rise as more bodies are feared trapped inside the sunken vehicle. Rescuers recovered 40 bodies from the wreckage, and police could not immediately say how many survived.
After the students watched the tournament, the cargo truck was hired to return them home, the official says. "According to several witnesses the boys were singing and dancing on board the truck. The truck skidded off the muddy road and turned (over) as it plunged into the canal." In Bangladesh, it's normal to hire cargo trucks for a quick ride to carry large groups during festivals or celebrations. Hundreds of anxious people gathered at the site to look for their loved ones. (More Bangladesh stories.)
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