MV Coco-4 officials sued

Officials of the MV Coco-4 face charges for overloading the vessel and causing deaths of more than 75 passengers, in a case filed by a passenger that survived the ferry disaster at Lalmohon, Bhola. CORRECTED

(Correcting name of person filing the case)

Bhola, Dec 01 (bdnews24.com) – Officials of the MV Coco-4 face charges for overloading the vessel and causing deaths of more than 75 passengers, in a case filed by a passenger that survived the ferry disaster at Lalmohon, Bhola, over Eid.

"The case accuses authorities of MV Coco-4 of causing the accident and deaths of passengers by overloading and attempting to dock 50 feet away from the Nazirpur launch terminal," Lalmohon police chief Jakir Hossain said Tuesday.

The case was filed by surviving passenger Muhammad Kamal of Lalmohan, said Hossain.

The Coco-4 partially capsized last Friday, the night before Eid-ul-Azha, on the river Tentulia at Lalmohan, some 40 km from Bhola district town.

The death toll rose to 77 by Tuesday, with a further 40 passengers still unaccounted for by official estimates.

The vessel, crowded from hull to decks with people heading home to celebrate the holiday with families, began tipping with the weight of disembarking passengers and partially sank, according to eye witnesses.

The 600-capacity ferry was carrying more than 1500 passengers from Dhaka to Lalmohon.

bdnews24.com/corr/rn/rah/1709h.