Bodies of two passengers have been recovered so far after a launch sank with over 300 people on board in the Padma River near Munshiganj’s Louhajang Upazila.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered all relevant wings of the government to join salvage operations. But rescuers said the efforts were being blocked by strong current and waves.
A joint rescue operation started Monday night after salvage ship MV Rustam arrived at the accident site.
The joint team comprises police, Fire Service, Coastguards, RAB and Army personnel and Navy divers.
Louhajang Police Station OC Tofazzal Hossain told bdnews24.com that the passenger vessel, Pinak-6, went down at Louhajan turning point around 11:30am.
It was heading towards Munshiganj’s Mawa from Madaripur’s Kewrakandi.
After the rescue attempts began, bodies of two unidentified women were recovered around 1:30pm, he said. One of them was approximately aged 50 years while the other was 35.
Quoting local people, the OC said around 350 passengers were on board the vessel.
A survivor of the sunken ferry also told reporters at the Mawa landing point that the vessel was carrying over 300 people.
The capacity of a double-decker launch like Pinak-6 was 120-150 passengers.
Hossain said the launch lost balance as it was carrying passengers beyond the capacity and the river was turbulent.
Locals with trawlers and speedboats tried to save as many passengers as they could right after the launch sank.
Later, teams of the Coastguards and Fire Service and Civil Defence joined them.
Munshiganj’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Saiful Islam said 110 passengers were rescued.
But the local administration could not say how many were still missing.
Fire Service and Civil Defence’s Dhaka zone Assistant Director Mahfuzur Rahman Akanda told bdnews24.com their divers were searching the rivers to salvage whatever they can, but they were having a hard time due to strong current and wind.
The salvage operation will become tougher if the current moved the capsized vessel from the accident site, he said.
BIWTA Deputy Director Asgar Ali had hoped to pinpoint the launch’s location under water using sonar by evening. But it is yet to be confirmed.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan was coordinating the rescue operations at the scene.
He told reporters, “We are doing our best. Two investigation committees have started looking into the reasons that caused the accident.”
Police, Fire Service, Coastguards, RAB and Army personnel and Navy divers rushed to the spot and prepared to speed up the search and rescue efforts, but that was yet to happen as no salvage ships had arrived until now.
The minister said salvage ships MV Rustam and ‘Prattay’ were ordered immediately to reach the accident site.
Later, another ship, MV Nirvik, was summoned from Narayanganj fearing that Rustam will be late as it got into a whirlpool on its way.
One of the survivors of Pinak-6, Mimjal Islam at Mawa terminal, told bdnews24.com the launch was nearing Mawa when it suddenly overturned and sank very quickly.
Another survivor told bdnews24.com the vessel sank only because it was carrying passengers way beyond its capacity.
The vessel’s drowning in Padma River was captured on mobile phone by a passenger of a ferry which was travelling nearby.
The footage soon fell into the hands of media persons, including bdnews24.com.
It showed the two-decked medium size launch tilting to one side and getting devoured by the river in seconds.
Meanwhile, grief-stricken families of the victims have gathered at the ferry terminals of Mawa and Kewrakandi.
The Ministry of Shipping and the Department of Shipping under it have formed two separate committees to look into the launch disaster.
The ministry team comprising seven members is being headed by the Shipping Ministry Joint Secretary Nur Ur Rahman.
The four-member committee of the Department of Shipping has the department’s Engineer and Ship Surveyor SM Najmul Haque as its convenor.
On July 31, a boat capsized in the Jamuna River at Sirajganj’s Chouhali Upazila leaving eight people dead.
Two days earlier, 11 people died when another boat went down in the Padma River in Kushtia.
On May 15, another passenger vessel, MV Miraz-4, sank at Munshiganj’s Doulatpur in river Meghna, claiming 58 lives.
Source: Bd news24
