Bangladesh Ferry Death

Rescuers until last night were able to recover the body of only one passenger of the capsized Pinak 6, raising the number to three, while relatives of over a hundred missing people remained in dark whether the bodies could be found for burial. The launch could not be traced until 10pm apparently because of bad weather and strong current of Padma River. Many of the family members kept waiting on the river bank while some others were frantically going to the rescue officials of the BIWTA, the Navy, the fire service divers and the Coast Guard to know whether any more body was recovered. According to the rescuers, the possibility of tracing the launch is going away far with time. Chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) M Shamsuddoha Khandakar last night briefed reporters about the salvage operation at the Mawa ghat. He said they would start a joint and intensive search operation within few hours. The ships – one each from Navy, BIWTA and BIWTC – would also search one kilometre in the upstream and three kilometres in the downstream, he added. He said during the operation, the authorities would impose restrictions so that small vessels could not operate at that time. Comparing with previous experience of salvaged launches, he said: “This time the current is stronger and water is muddy. We have so far searched 20km of downstream by following sweeping technique with modern equipment. But still it is uncertain.” Double-decker Pinak 6 sank in the river in Louhajang upazila of Munshiganj with more than 250 people on its way to Mawa ghat from Kawrakandi terminal on Monday morning. After the end of the day, rescuers recovered the unconscious bodies of two women. They died later. Police yesterday said body of a woman found floating in Meghna River in Chandpur in the morning could be of one of the missing victims. Meanwhile, the information centre set up by the district administration at Mawa ghat recorded the number of missing passengers to be 129 until 8pm. Frustrated for not getting any development, relatives of the missing passengers blocked a road in front of Padma Rest House near the Mawa ghat for an hour since 8:30am. They alleged that the rescue work had been sluggish. Later police managed them to leave the road. The aggrieved relatives earlier staged protest at the same place around 2:30am. Meanwhile, rescue vessel “Nirvik” joined “Rustom” yesterday morning. Another vessel “Jorip 10” having Sonar (sound, operation, navigation and ranging) technology installed had to return to Chittagong because of bad weather. It started from Chittagong around 11am as it has the capacity of locating a vessel under water, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told Dhaka Tribune at Mawa ghat. “But the 14-metre vessel was facing difficulties reaching the spot as the sea was too rough,” said Member (Harbour and Marine) of Chittagong Port Authority Commodore M Shahjahan. The vessel could cross the outer anchorage of the port around 3pm, he added. The equipment of Jorip 10 were later shifted to “Kandari 2” which started from Chittagong at the same time. It may reach the spot around noon. These equipment might help tracing the launch easily, the minister said since it had sub-bottom propeller which can identify solid things even under the riverbed. The GPS system would then be used to get the exact location of the sunken vessel. The launch sank amid high winds in the choppy waters where the depth of water is around 90 feet. The local administration could not confirm how many people had managed to swim ashore. But locals, who took part in the rescue operation, said 50 to 60 passengers made it to the shore. Most of them were returning to Dhaka after celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr at their village homes.