Death toll rises to five

The rescuers recovered four more bodies from the River Buriganga near Babu Bazar Bridge area in the city on Saturday, raising the death toll from the boat capsize to five.

The deceased were identified as Mim (8) and her sister Mahir (6) and Delwar (38) and his son Zunaid (7).

Earlier, the rescuers comprising fire service and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) staffers and river police recovered the body of Delwar's wife Jamsheda (30) from Hasnabad point under Keraniganj on Friday.

They also rescued 38-year-old Shahjalal who sustained injuries to his legs. He is now undergoing treatment at National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation.

But his wife Shahida still remains missing.

However, the relatives of the victims were wailing after seeing the bodies at Sadarghat river port pontoon.

The rescuers are still trying to find out the remaining missing ones until filing of this report at 4:00 pm on Saturday.

The ill-fated persons were travelling to Shariatpur to attend a wedding ceremony there.

But their boat sank after colliding with launch 'Surobhi' near Sadarghat pontoon No 13 around 10:00 pm on Thursday, according to river police camp at Sadarghat.

An official of BIWTA said when the victims were attempting to board a launch the boat overturned as waves created by the launch propeller struck it.

The victims' relatives claimed that neither the launch owner nor the government officials had visited them at Sadarghat river port.

But the BIWTA official said the allegations made by the victims' relatives were not true. "BIWTA officials are looking into the matter seriously and sincerely," he said.

Earlier, the BIWTA had formed a three-member committee to probe the boat capsize in the Buriganga.

The committee headed by BIWTA director Md Shahjahan had been asked to submit its report within next three working days.

[email protected]