Desperate attempts to stay afloat amid strong current

The sight of the drowning passengers of Pinak-6, which sank in the Padma River Monday, and the rescuers' frantic efforts to salvage the ill-fated victims of the heavily crammed launch have emerged in a new video posted on Facebook. The 3:16-minute mobile phone footage of the moments immediately after the launch was grasped by the Padma shows the victims trying to stay afloat defying the strong current. Sam Sumon, a witness who was travelling in a ferry, filmed the rescue scene and posted it on his timeline the same day. "Everything happened in front of my eyes but I couldn't do anything," he wrote with the Facebook post. Rescuers who rushed there with some speedboats were seen trying frantically to pull up the victims. The death toll reached 9 while 129 were still missing till filing of this report at 5:25pm today.

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China quake toll climbs to 589

Almost 600 people are now known to have died in the earthquake that hit Yunnan province on Sunday, officials say. The 6.1-magnitude quake struck a mountainous area, destroying thousands of houses and triggering landslides. A total of 589 people were killed and nine were missing, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs said. More than 2,400 people were hurt, it said. Several roads have been blocked and there are concerns about barrier lakes formed when debris blocks rivers. The quake's epicentre was in Longtoushan Township in Ludian County, a region with steep hills and narrow roads. China has sent thousands of troops to the area to assist survivors and search debris for any trapped people. Tents and relief goods are also being brought in both by road and helicopter. But teams trying to repair damaged roads are being hampered by torrential rain, rockfalls and aftershocks, local reports say. Officials have also urged volunteers to stay away from the area because the damage to infrastructure means routes that are open are very congested. Meanwhile, about 4,200 residents have been evacuated from one area because of a barrier lake on the Niulan river. Waters levels in the lake were rising at a rate of 16cm per hour, Xinhua news agency quoted a technical specialist as saying late on Tuesday. Sixty soldiers was also trapped by a flood from a barrier lake on Tuesday and had to be rescued, the report added.

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