- Hundreds of people gather at Bhashanchar by the Meghna River yesterday following the capsize of a trawler in Munshiganj’s Gajaria on Wednesday night
At least eight people died when a trawler capsized in the Buriganga River yesterday afternoon while another trawler capsize in the Meghna River in Munshiganj claimed four more lives on Wednesday night.
The victims were related despite the accidents taking place in two different places. The Buriganga victims were returning home after attending an Urs – a religious gathering – of Hazrat Solaiman Shah (R) at Beltoli in Matlab of Chandpur while those who died in the Meghna River were on their way to the same Urs.
What is more surprising is the similarity between the nature of the accidents as both the trawlers collided with sand-laden vessels.
Yesterday’s accident, which took place west of Pangaon in Keraniganj around 1pm, killed Md Samir Hossain, 42, son of late Lat Mia, Rubel, 18, son of Wahab Molla, Rubel, 30, son of Hafiz Uddin, Jakir, 30, son of Nuruddin, Sagor, 11, son of Mizanur Rahman, Karamjan Bibi, 65, wife of Ayub Ali, Hridoy, 12, and another one who could not be identified.
All of them lived in Lalbagh.
Victim Samir’s brother Ripon claimed that the trawler had some 120 passengers onboard but Officer-in-Charge of South Keraniganj police station Jamal Uddin Mir said the number would be between 50 and 60.
“We saw no relatives on the riverbank looking for any missing passengers which is why we have suspended the search for today. Two people were said to have remained unaccounted for and we will resume our search tomorrow,” said Jamal.
“Dhaka’s Deputy Commissioner Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah handed over the bodies to the families without autopsy and also gave Tk20,000 to each family,” he added.
Meghna River capsize
On Wednesday, four people died when the trawler carrying them capsized in the Meghna River in Gazaria upazila around 8pm.
Of the dead, the bodies of Munia Akhter, 5, daughter of Munir Hossain of Siddhirganj in Narayanganj, Habib, 16, son of Shamim of Shuvaram village of Comilla, and two unidentified youths were found in the river in Mollakandi area yesterday morning, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.
But police recovered the body of another man from near the scene of the accident in the river, and said the youth appeared to have died earlier.
This is why we are not including him in the trawler capsize death toll, said Gazaria police station Officer-in-Charge Ferdous Hasan.
Two persons – Md Fayez, 16, and Keyamoni, 4 – were reported missing but Munshiganj Superintendent of Police Biplob Bijoy Talukdar said the number might be greater.
“Police, firefighters and Coast Guard are searching the river for the missing passengers,” he said.
Habibur Rahman, sub-inspector of Gazaria police station, said the number of missing passengers might not exceed 5.
The accident took place when a Dhaka-bound sand-carrying vessel hit the trawler, which had about 60-70 passengers on board.
The trawler was salvaged and the other vessel was seized. Piyash, a survivor who hails from Siddhirganj, said the trawler left Baushia launch terminal at 7:30pm on Wednesday.
“The accident took place during a storm and some of the passengers managed to swim ashore,” he added.
Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md Saiful Hasan Badal announced that the families of the deceased would be given Tk20,000 each for burial of the bodies.
He also said no committee had been formed yet to probe the accident.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
