A Shipping Ministry probe committee has begun an investigation into the capsize yesterday of passenger launch MV Mostafa on the Padma River in Paturia after cargo trawler Nargis 1 broadsided it.
At least 48 people have drowned as the launch, which locals said was carrying around 200 passengers, capsized on the Paturia-Daulatdia route of the Padma River.
As many as 35 passengers managed to swim ashore or to nearby vessels sent out by locals who began the rescue effort almost immediately after the accident took place, fire service and police officials said.
The 11-member Shipping Ministry probe committee’s convenor, Joint Secretary Nur-ur Rahman, visited the site of the accident in Manikganj yesterday together with Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Chairman Khandaker Samsuzzaman.
The Department of Shipping separately formed a 3-member probe committee to determine the cause of the accident and identify those who were responsible.
Passenger launch MV Mostafa is rated to carry 140 passengers, but is believed to have been overloaded. The exact number of those on board has not yet been determined.
Police seized cargo vessel Nargis 1, which ran head on into the side of the passenger vessel causing it to capsize, and arrested shipmaster Iqbal and his assistant Shahidul.
Probe body convenor, Nur-ur Rahman, said: “We have started our work will complete it as soon as possible.”
The ministry probe committee is a standing committee which investigates all maritime and waterway accidents when they occur.
Sources said at least 5,000 people have died over the last 14 years in maritime accidents.
But the ministry standing probe committee has, to date, published just five reports on marine accidents including one on a launch that sank in the Padma River in Mawa last year.
The BIWTA was sacked three staff members and punished four others for failing to perform their duties on the Mawa-Kawrakandi route.
The Shipping Department probe committee, a three-member committee convened yesterday, will submit its findings within 15 working days.
The convenor of the departmental committee is nautical surveyor, Captain Muhammad Shajahan, and includes special officer Golam Mainuddin Hasan and chief inspector Shafiqur Rahman.
MV Mostafa was going to Daulatdia from Paturia while Nargis 1 was headed for Baghbari in Sirajganj.
Rescue and recovery
Rescue operations were under way as of late last night.
Some 30 of the 48 bodies recovered from the accident site had been identified.
The identities of some of the deceased could not be ascertained immediately.
The launch was believed to be travelling with some 200 passengers on board, when it was struck by cargo vessel Nargis 1 and keeled over on the Padma River’s Paturia-Daulatdia route in Manikganj.
Deputy Assistant Director Abdul Halim of the Fire Service confirmed the deaths to the Dhaka Tribune.
Of the deceased, 15 were identified: Hanif, 25, of Kushtia; Sufia, 28, of Rajbari; Jewel, 24, of Rajbari; Firoz, 40, of Kushtia; Nabijan, 70, of Rajbari; Mudusudhan Saha, 60, of Kushtia; Salim Reza, 21, of Kushtia; Imran, 8, of Daulatpur; Nargis Akter, 11, of Faridpur; Rabia Khatun, 22, of Rajbari; Jalal Sheik, 35, of Faridpur; Fazlur Rahman, 25, of Rajbari; Joynal Sheikh, 32, of Bhandaria; Lata, 22, of Manikganj and Smriti, daughter of Faruk Hossain, of Rajbari.
Fifteen more victims were identified, said Akhtaruzzaman Masum, the on-duty official of the control room set up near the spot.
Of the identified bodies, 20 were handed over to their relatives, he added.
The identification of the dead was under way, he said.
The death toll could rise further as bodies trapped under the overturned launch are freed, a member of the rescue operation said.
Launch MV Mostafa capsized around 11:50am yesterday after being hit by goods-laden cargo vessel Nargis 1.On receiving information, a police team went to the site and members of the fire service began conducting a salvage operation, officials said.
Although Shibalaya circle Assistant Superintendent of Police Harunur Rashid said around 90-100 people were on board the capsized vessel, locals estimated that as many as 200 were aboard the ill-fated ship.
The exact number of missing passengers has not been ascertained.
Rajbari Deputy Commissioner Rafiqul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that rescue ship MV Rustam had started for the stricken vessel around 12pm, and would take five to seven hours to reach the site.
He said the rescue operation was under way, but was moving slowly.
The deputy commissioner said the district offices of both Manikganj and Rajbari have been working together and had set up a control room at the riverside.
They said the control room would coordinate the rescue and recovery mission, the hand-over of bodies to loved ones and operation of the vessels used during the rescue and recovery mission.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
