2 teams to probe launch mishap

The government has formed two probe teams to look into the causes of Monday’s launch disaster in Padma River near Munshiganj's Louhajang Upazila.

The Ministry of Shipping and the Department of Shipping under it have formed separate committees, ministry spokesperson Jahagir Alam Khan has said.

Both teams had been told to file their reports within 10 working days, he told benews24.com.

The vessel, Pinak-6, went down around 11:30am while it was heading towards Munshiganj's Mawa from Madaripur's Kewrakandi with over 200 people on board.

The ministry team comprising seven members is being headed by the Shipping Ministry Joint Secretary Nur Ur Rahman.

The team has a member from BUET, a BIWTA engineer, chief engineer of the BIWTC, the chief nautical surveyor of the Department of Shipping and the Deputy Commissioners of Madaripur and Munshiganj.

The four-member committee of the Department of Shipping has the department’s Engineer and Ship Surveyor and Examiner SM Najmul Haque as its convenor.

The department’s Nautical Surveyor and Examiner Capt Md Giasuddin Ahmed and its Executive Magistrate Mohammad Saiful Hasan are also members of this team.

The department’s Chief Inspector Md Shafiqur Rahman has been made the member secretary.

The departmental committee has been told ascertain the cause of the accident, the extent of the loss, and the ISO guidelines that had been flouted.

Besides identifying the persons and the organisation responsible for the accident, the committee has also been asked to suggest ways of prevent such disasters in future.