28 dead in Meghna tragedy, sunken launch salvaged

Rescuers have pulled out 28 bodies from the Meghna until Friday afternoon after a passenger ferry sank on way to Sureshwar from Dhaka on Thursday.

MV Miraj-4 was caught in a storm around 4:30pm on Thursday and sank near Daulatdia in Munshiganj.

Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Saiful Hasan Badal said 18 of the bodies had been identified.

He said they had been handed over to families and efforts were on to salvage the launch as quickly as possible.

On Friday afternoon, rescue vessel MV Prottoy salvaged the launch and dragged it to the shore.

Prottoy reached Daulatdia on Thursday evening from Narayanganj and pinpointed the launch’s position about 80 feet below the surface.

Around 11:30am, an attempt was made to retrieve the launch but the crane cable broke while pulling it up and the launch sank again.

The 36 by 7 by 1.9 metre vessel weighs about 110 tonnes. Rescue vessel Prottoy can lift 250 tonnes.

Survivors said the launch sank because of erratic navigation and overloading of passengers.

Photo: tanvir ahammed/ bdnews24.com

Photo: tanvir ahammed/ bdnews24.com

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, local MP Mrinal Kanti Das, BIWTA Chairman Shamsuddoha Talukder, Munshiganj’s DC and acting SP and Narayanganj DC Md Anisur Rahman Miah oversaw the rescue efforts at the scene.

Earlier, administration officials were confronted by an angry mob frustrated with the delay in salvaging the launch.

The Department of Shipping has formed a committee to investigate the accident.

Shipping ministry spokesperson Jahangir Alam Khan said the three-member committee would be headed by ASM Sirajul Islam, an engineer and ship surveyor with the Mercantile Marine Department.

The other two members are DoS Executive Magistrate Saiful Hasan and Chief Inspector (additional duties) Shafiqur Rahman.

The committee has been asked to file a report within seven days.