17 more bodies found in Padma and Meghna

Bodies of passengers from Pinak 6 launch that sank on Monday have started to float near the spot while some others got drifted away as far as the Bay of Bengal with the strong current.

Three days after the tragic incident, as many as 15 bodies were found – until midnight – floating on rivers in Shariatpur, Chandpur, Barisal and Bhola districts, while two others near the accident spot which is close to Mawa ghat, according to the Munshiganj deputy commissioner’s office.

Until Tuesday night, bodies of four passengers were found in the Padma River.

Twelve passengers have so far been identified while eight of them handed over to the victims’ relatives. According to the control room set up by local administration, 123 ill-fated passengers are still missing.

Relatives of the missing people kept waiting on the river bank yesterday too.

On the other hand, rescuers from different government agencies failed to trace the sunken vessel until midnight. It is assumed that many passengers were stuck inside it.

BIWTA Chairman M Shamsuddoha Bhuiyan said none of the passengers could be rescued alive now. “Locals rescued some passengers just after the incident. Others may have died.”

Most of the bodies drifted to downstream towards the sea through the Meghna River, which connects the Padma in Chandpur, and were found within a radius of more than 150 kilometres. Some of the bodies were stuck in shoals.

Of the bodies recovered yesterday, four were found in the Meghna River at Haimchar of Chandpur – some 65km from Mawa, while four in Bhola’s Ilsha area which is 100km from Mawa.

Noria, Polash and Jajira of Shariatpur, where five bodies were found floating, is more than 40km downstream from the spot where the double-decker launch capsized with more than 270 passengers on board on Monday morning.

The relatives suspect that many bodies have drifted to the sea. Many fear that the launch too has already been washed away from the spot.

However, an official supervising the rescue efforts of the Fire Service and Civil Defence told the Dhaka Tribune in the evening that the launch might not be washed away too far.

“We saw oil floating on the water last night [Tuesday]. Moreover, two bodies were found floating just 5km off the spot. It means the launch is still somewhere around here,” Bharat Chandra Biswas, the deputy director (operation) of fire service, said.

The combined operation of the Coast Guard, the Navy, the Fire Service and the BIWTA launched Tuesday night could not trace the launch, he said.

“We followed ladder search system. But now I am thinking that we can use eight boats on a line for the salvage operation so that we can cover more than 1,200 feet. It will be effective,” he said.

“We have been working round the clock, but there is no progress [regarding the launch],” he added.

A diver of the fire service, Abdul Matin, who went under the water four times to search the launch, said: “Five vessels took part in the search early Tuesday. Three boats of the Navy and the BIWTA used Sonar machines during the search and we followed them with two boats.

“Our two boats were tied with ropes with one another,” he said. The ropes had stuck with something under the water four times. “Eight of our divers went under the water but found nothing,” he said.

Capt Nazrul Islam of Bangladesh Navy said they had conducted a pattern search on the route with Sonar and then started a random search. “But the result was zero. We covered almost 10km so far.”

He suspected that the launch might have gone under the cover of sand of the riverbed.

Meanwhile, rescue vessel Kandari 2 reached the spot around midnight. The authorities said it would join the salvage operation immediately.

Starting from Chittagong port on Tuesday night, the vessel came near Chandpur around 3pm. It is carrying some modern equipment to identify objects covered under sand of the riverbed.

About the delay, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan at a press meet said its anchor stuck in sand when it had stopped near Chandpur. “We have called another vessel having Multi-beam Echo Sounder machine. It can detect metal objects under the sand.”

He also said the government had asked the DCs of Chandpur, Bhola, Barisal and Shariatpur to be on alert about the floating bodies.

Government to monitor Mawa-Kawrakandi route

Asked what measures the government had taken to monitor the accident-porn ferry route, the minister said a joint team of the BIWTA and the Department of Shipping would conduct a survey on August 14 to check fitness of launches.

“We will scrap route permits of launches which lack fitness to ply on the mighty Padma River. The BIWTC will provide 4-5 sea trucks to fill the gap if some launches are withdrawn from the route following the drive,” he added.

The minister admitted that there had been mismanagement in monitoring of the launches after Eid.

“A special monitoring cell worked in this route until the fifth day after Eid. The accident took place when the monitoring became slack,” he said.

Relatives agitate

Aggrieved family members of the missing passengers yesterday attacked the sub-control room of the upazila administration and the camp of Red Crescent Society protesting delay in rescue operation. They also vandalised a vehicle of a private TV channel and assaulted two journalists.

Some relatives alleged that the authorities had already located the launch but they would not disclose the information. “It cannot happen that eight vessels could not trace a small launch. The rescuers fear that many bodies are stuck in the launch and if they recover the bodies together, there will be an outrage among the relatives and locals,” said Shahidul Islam, whose sister is missing.