Recovered bodies are seen after a boat slammed into a vessel transporting sand, in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh August 27, 2021. Picture used for illustrative purposes only. Reuters

"The bodies of 16 people including women and children have so far been retrieved," Sujoy Kumar Roy, an officer of Panchagarh's Boda Police station, told Xinhua news agency.

According to the officer, the boat carrying some 100 people capsized at about 1:30pm local time. Most of the passengers managed to swim ashore after the incident.

Some 30 passengers of the vessel were still missing, said the officer, adding that a rescue operation was underway and the cause of the accident was not immediately known.

Indo-Asian News Service