Siblings die in boat capsize in Buriganga

Divers of Fire Service and Bangladesh Navy have recovered the bodies of a boy and his five-year-old younger sister who went missing in the Buriganga river after a boat capsized being hit by a launch near Sadarghat.

The accident occurred near Pontoon No. 1 at Sadarghat at around 7 am on Friday, said Russel Shikdar, an officer at the Fire Service.

The missing Mishkat, 12, and Nusrat, 5, are  the children of Babul Farazi, a trader in Keraniganj. They hail from Bakerganj in Barishal.

The children went to Barishal, their ancestral home, as Babul Farazi stayed in Keraniganj. Mishkat and family returned to Dhaka with their uncle Shamim Howladar by launch.

They faced the accident while going home to Keraniganj in a boat after reaching Dhaka.

The siblings Mishkat, Nusrat and Nusaiba along with their mother Josna were aboard the boat, said Shamim Howladar. The boat capsized in the middle of the river after it was hit by MV Pubali-5.

“All of us went under the launch after it hit out boat. I managed to swim out of it, so did Josna. But Mishkat and Nusrat were not found.”

Police and the people in nearby boats began to look for them immediately. Later, the divers from the Fire Service started a search.

MV Pubali were sailing towards Keraniganj from Sadarghat and the accident occurred as the boat was moving behind the launch, said Inspector Selim of BIWTA. “The accident would never take place if the boatman was cautious.”