Ferry carrying 250 passengers gets stuck mid-river on Hatia route

Passengers blame a delayed departure, while the ferry master points to navigability problems

A ferry carrying over 250 passengers and 16 cargo vehicles has run aground on a shoal in the Meghna River on the route between Noakhali’s island Upazila Hatia and the mainland.

The vessel, Mahananda, became stuck on Tuesday morning while travelling from Chairman Ghat to Nalchira Ghat, according to the ferry's master, Mohammad Karim.

Grounding occurred around 8am due to receding water levels, sparking widespread frustration among the stranded passengers who blamed a departure delay for their plight.

Passengers claimed the vessel was scheduled to leave Chairman Ghat at 6:30am but was held back for over an hour, causing it to miss the tide.

Akbar Hossain, a fish trader from Chairman Ghat, said the delay and poor river navigability left court-goers, office workers, and medical patients in severe distress, forcing some to risk travelling by wooden engine boats instead.

Women, children, elderly passengers and patients were facing the greatest hardship, he said, adding that proper dredging of the river was needed to prevent similar incidents after the monsoon.

Karim, however, said the ferry had left only about 10 minutes late because of navigability problems at the terminal.

He said the vessel departed around 7:40am, near the end of low tide, leading to the incident.

"There is nothing we can do now. The ferry will be able to move once the tide returns around 10:30am," he added.