'Careless' ferry operators caused Padma Bridge incident: probe

A BIWTC probe has blamed the carelessness of the master and steersman of the Ro-Ro ferry 'Shah Jalal' after the vessel slammed into a pier of the under-construction Padma Bridge on the way to the Shimulia port.

A four-strong panel tasked with probing the incident submitted its report to the chairman of BIWTC on Sunday.

BIWTC Director SM Ashikuzzaman, the panel's convener, said: “The pier of the Padma bridge was hit by the ferry due to the carelessness of its operator. The master and steersman are responsible for the incident.”

The ferry was heading to Munshiganj's Shimulia from Madaripur's Banglabazar when it struck pier No. 18 of the bridge on Friday morning.

The front end of the ferry was left with a big dent on impact while the 33 vehicles on the vessels bounced off each other. Many of the nearly 2,000 passengers on board were thrown off balance, with at least 20 suffering injuries.

However, the bridge was not damaged in the collision, according to Padma Bridge's Project Director Shafiqul Islam.

"The operator lost control while trying to ride the strong currents on the river at a low speed and ended up hitting the bridge's pier," said Ashikuzzaman.

The authorities suspended the ferry's in-charge, Inland Master Officer Abdur Rahman, for 'his failure' to operate the ferry properly. Police later arrested the master and the steersman on Saturday.

A passenger on the ferry said that the Padma river had been rough since morning, after entering the main river from the channel, the ferry was caught in a strong current. The driver lost control of the ferry. Amidst the big waves and strong winds, the ferry went to the pier of the bridge and pushed hard.

The river had been turbulent since Friday morning and the ferryman lost control of the vessel due to a combination of inclement weather and high tide, according to one of the passengers.

The ferryman did eventually regain control of the vessel and managed to guide it to the Shimulia port without any incident afterwards.

Ferry Master Rahman later said the vessel's electronic system had failed during the crossing. He managed to fix the problem immediately but not before the ferry hit the pillar.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader also pointed to a "disinformation campaign" surrounding the bridge since the beginning of the project and said the government would check whether the collision was a deliberate act as part of a conspiracy.