PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuter) - Divers were set to return on Tuesday to a sunken Haitian ferry to resume recovering the bodies of hundreds of passengers trapped below deck when the boat tipped and sank near shore. As many as 400 people drowned when the packed ferry La Fierte Gonavienne (the Pride of Gonave) went down on Monday in 120 feet (36.5 metres) of water just 50 yards (50 metres) off Montrouis on the Gulf of Gonave, officials and witnesses said. Divers from the Canadian contingent of United Nations peacekeepers recovered at least 24 bodies from the ferry late on Monday and were to return to the vessel early on Tuesday. The divers recovered bodies near one entry after prying open a doorway, and took them to shore in small boats. The victims were placed on the stony beach where officials went through pockets searching for identification before sliding the bodies into plastic bags. Witnesses and survivors said the vessel about 60 feet (18 metres) long, tipped when many of the passengers went to one side, apparently to disembark. Officials said the vessel routinely offloaded by drawing into shallow water where passengers either swam, waded, or were carried to shore. Accounts differed on how many people were on board, making it unclear how many may have reached shore safely. The ferry's manager Gabriel Louisne said its capacity was 400 and it carried only 260, while Sylvain Chanel, a local official from La Gonave, told Reuters 276 tickets were sold, not including children. A ticket collector said that 800 people boarded and police said there were 800-900 passengers. U.S. officials in the capital Port-au-Prince said the ferry had a maximum recommended capacity of 80 people. Twenty-six bodies washed ashore shortly after the boat sank just 50 yards (metres) from shore. Haitian Red Cross Secretary-General Regis Marc said only 30 people were confirmed to have survived. The captain of the boat, a Cuban named Ramos Ingen, was accused by some survivors of locking passengers in the bowels of the vessel. He was arrested by local police, held for his own security and then released. Ferries, buses and trucks in Haiti are notorious for cramming in passengers without regard to the dangers. In the biggest Haitian ferry disaster of recent years, the overcrowded Neptune sank in February 1993 about 50 miles (80 km) west of Port-au-Prince. The final death toll was estimated at more than 500.