Workers rescue the ferry that collided with a cargo vessel and sank on Sunday in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Reuters

A Bangladesh ferry carrying around 50 passengers collided with a cargo vessel and sank on Sunday in the Shitalakhsya River south of the capital Dhaka, leaving at least 26 people dead and a few still missing, officials said.

Twenty one bodies had been recovered on Monday. The ferry sank just after it departed from the industrial Narayanganj district about 20 kms (12 mies) from Dhaka, to Munshiganj, said Mustain Billah, Narayanganj district administrator, according to Reuters.

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Police and officials said some of the passengers managed to swim ashore.

Relatives gathered at the river bank to search for their loved ones. Rescuers, including divers from the fire brigade, were searching for survivors on Monday while salvage operations were hampered by a storm last night.

Migrant people and workers board a passenger ferry at the Sadarghat Ferry Terminal in Dhaka. Reuters

The boat was packed with people rushing to go to their hometown after the government announced a week-long nationwide lockdown from Monday to tackle a spike in the COVID-19 cases.

The ship sank in the Shitalakshya river in central Bangladesh after it collided with another cargo vessel, just minutes after it left Narayanganj, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of the capital Dhaka.

Bangladesh reported a record daily jump of 7,087 coronavirus infections on Sunday, taking its total number of cases to 637,364 with 9,266 deaths.

Hundreds of people die each year in ferry accidents in Bangladesh, a low-lying country that has extensive inland waterways but lax safety standards.

People cram on a ferry to travel back to their homes in Dhaka on Saturday. AFP