DHAKA -- Fire brigade divers abandoned the search for more bodies in Bangladesh Sunday after a ferry accident near the capital Dhaka left 13 Muslim pilgrims dead, local police said.

Rescue workers failed to trace out any of the 15 other Muslim worshipers who had remained missing since early Saturday after a mechanized boat ferrying pilgrims capsized in the Dhaleshwari river 30 kilometers east of Dhaka, DPA reported.

The accident happened at the weekend as the boat hit a passenger ship traveling from the southern Barisal city and went down into the water with 50 pilgrims on board, eyewitnesses' accounts said.

Fire brigade divers, who were joined by local volunteers, salvaged 13 bodies from the sunken boat while plucking 22 survivors from the river.

Police said the search was given up Sunday after divers confirmed that there were no more bodies inside the boat resting more than 10 meters deep in the water.

Rescuers said several people could be carried downstream by river currents.

The pilgrims were bound for the holy town of Atroshi in southern Bangladesh to attend an Islamic religious assembly.