A man standing on a boat reacts while talking over phone after a passenger ferry capsized in the river Buriganga in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 29, 2020. (Reuters)

A ferry carrying about 100 passengers capsized after being hit Monday by a larger vessel in a Bangladeshi river, killing at least 28 people, officials said.

It wasn’t clear how many people were able to swim to safety or were still missing.

Rescuers including firefighters and coast guard and navy personnel were continuing to search the river, said Debashish Bardhan, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense.

People on a boat watch the spot where a passenger ferry capsized in the river Buriganga in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 29, 2020. (Reuters)

Rozina Islam, a fire department official, said 28 bodies had been recovered by Monday afternoon. Three children were among the victims, she said.

She said the Morning Bird ferry was travelling on the Buriganga River to the capital, Dhaka, from neighbouring Munshiganj district when it was hit by the larger ferry near Shyambazar and capsized. The second ferry left the scene after the accident, she said.