At least 43 people have been killed after a passenger ferry sank in Bangladesh, according to police, the second such accident on the country's waterways in the last week.

The vessel capsized and sank on the Daira river, about 100 km north of the capital Dhaka, at 9.30am (02:30 GMT) on Friday, said Anwar Hossain, the police chief of Kishorganj district.

"We have so far found 43 bodies … We are unsure exactly how many people were on board. Hundreds are gathering on the side of the river. Rescue operations are still on," he said.

Children were among those killed in the accident, Shah Kamal, the chief government official in Kishorganj, told the AFP news agency.

"We are estimating that the ferry was carrying around 100 passengers and the rescue mission is ongoing," he said.

Poor safety

More than 3,000 people are estimated to have died in accidents on boats in Bangladesh since 1977, with most of the incidents blamed on poor safety standards and overloading.

At least 85 people drowned last Friday when a crowded triple-decker ferry in southern Bangladesh capsized and sank.

Shahjahan Khan, Bangladesh’s shipping minister, said after that accident that a stampede by passengers had caused the MV Coco-4 to sink.

The vessel was carrying people travelling from cities to their home villages for the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Adha.

Police called off the search for more bodies on Friday morning, nearly a week after the incident.

The government has filed a case against the owners of the vessel - Tareque Rahman and Arafat Rahman Coco, sons of Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister of Bangladesh.