Ferry capsize leaves 41 dead

At least 41 people were killed and many remained missing as a ferry, MV Mostafa, carrying nearly 200 passengers sank in the River Padma after being hit by a cargo vessel on the Daulatdia-Paturia route in Manikganj on Sunday morning.Divers and locals recovered 41 bodies from the river near the spot till 9:30pm, Zihad Mia, fire service’s Ghior officer-in-charge in Manikganj told New Age.The divers and rescuers from fire service, Red Crescent, River Police, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation were continuing search for survivors or bodies, Manikganj deputy commissioner Rashida Ferdous told New Age on Sunday night.The dead included eight children, 14 women and 19 men, said executive magistrate Kamrul Hassan, adding that a total of 32 bodies, out of the 41, were identified till 9:30pm.Only 11 of the bodies were handed over to their families, the executive magistrate said, adding that relatives of each of the dead were given Tk 20 thousand for carrying the bodies to their homes.BIWTA chairman Mohammad Shamsuddoha Khandaker told reporters that the rescue operation was delayed as the ferry capsized in the mid-river.There were heart-rending scenes at the BIWTA passenger shed where a temporary control room was opened and the bodies were being kept for identifying and handing them over and at the police control room near the Paturia ferry terminal where people have gathered to search for their near and dear ones.

The ferry used to operate on Dhaka-Barisal route carrying passengers from 21 districts, including Khulna, Barisal and Faridpur.MV Mostafa headed for Daulatdia from Paturia when it sank in the middle of Padama at around 11:45am after it was hit in the middle by cargo vessel Nargis-1, which was heading for Baghabari in Sirajganj, an Aricha river port official Enamul Haque told New Age.He said that the ferry quickly went under water after being struck by the cargo vessel.Police said they seized Nargis-1 and arrested its four crew, including its master Iqbal Hossain and staff Shahinul Islam.The Manikganj DC said that the administration had already opened a control room at Paturia terminal to coordinate the rescue operation.The passengers who swam ashore said that after the collision the crews of nearby vessels and the cargo vessel which had hit the ferry, threw life jackets into the river with the help of which about 50 people managed to save their lives.Survivors said that the ferry was crowded.The ferry  owner, Abdur Rahim Khan, also the general secretary of Aricha Ghat Launch Owners’ Association, claimed that the vessel, having both licence and route permit, had a capacity of carrying 140 passengers, but it was crowded because passengers had boarded the ferry without paying heed to the launch staffs’ warning.Sohrab Sheikh, a survivor who lives in Gazipur, was about to faint when he saw the body of his two-year-old son, Zunaid Sheikh. His wife, Rina Begum, was still missing.

‘I heard the bang when the cargo vessel hit our ferry and it seemed as if I was thrown off the ferry,’ Sohrab said after he regained consciousness.A three-year-old girl had been crying continuously at the Shibalay upazila health complex where she was undergoing treatment. The body of her father, Md Nasir, 28, of Kushtia, was recovered while her five-year-old elder sister remained missing, Nasir’s paternal uncle Nayan Ahmed told New Age.Salvage vessel Rustom was on its way to the spot from Mawa terminal for joining the rescue operation, shipping department officials said at 9:00pm.No case has so far been filed in this connection.The shipping ministry, meanwhile, formed a three-member committee led by the shipping department’s nautical surveyor Md Shahjahan to investigate the accident asking the team to submit a report to the director general of the department in 15 working days.On August 4, 2014, overcrowded MV Pinak-6 sank in Padma at Louhajang in Munshiganj. The rescue was called off eight days after the ferry sank leaving the vessel untraced and the Munshiganj deputy commissioner’s official data showed that a total of 46 bodies were found, of them 28 were identified while 61 remained missing.

Source: http://newagebd.net/97411/ferry-capsize-leaves-41-dead/