Eleven more missing passengers of the sunken launch Pinak-6 were found dead Wednesday as bodies of the victims are floating up the waters of Padma and Meghna in different districts along the banks of the two mighty rivers.
One of the dead was identified as a niece of Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan. She was named Jannat Nayeem Lucky.
The corpses were found floating in the rivers in Bhola, Chandpur, Shariatpur and Barisal on the third day after the overloaded double-decker launch, Pinak-6, sank in the choppy waters of the Padma amid rough weather.
Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md Saiful Hasan said four of the bodies were identified and handed over to relatives. They are Fahad Akhand, 24, Mijanur Rahman, 35, Jannat Nayeem Lucky, 20, and Rita Akter, 25.
Meanwhile, locals in Kunder Char area of Shariatpur's Jajira Upazila reported the spotting of three more bodies, but the local administration was yet to confirm the finds.
On Tuesday, two bodies were found in Chandpur's Haimchar Union, one of which was sent to Madaripur for identification as police suspected it to be that of a Pinak-6 victim.
Two bodies were recovered shortly after the ferry disaster occurred on Monday morning in the Padma off Munshiganj's Mawa terminal.
Police listed 169 missing, based on complaints lodged by relatives until Tuesday evening.
A bdnews24.com report said two of the bodies were recovered from river Meghna in Rajapur and Kattirmatha areas on Wednesday morning.
Two more were spotted in the afternoon in the river's Shahbajpur channel in Bhola Sadar Upazila, said Deputy Commissioner Md Selim Reza.
Coastguards rushed to the spot after locals informed about the bodies.
Bhola's Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Moniruzzaman told bdnews24.com that the local people in Rajapur spotted a corpse in the river Meghna around 9am. The victim has been identified as Fahad Akhand, hailed from Jhalkatthi.
"He used to study BBA at Dhaka's Tejgaon College. Family members said he was returning to Dhaka after the Eid vacation," said the police official. They had contacted the family by using the SIM card of the mobile phone found with the body.
Munshiganj's Louhajang UNO Md Khalequzzaman confirmed that Akhand was on the list of missing prepared by the local administration.
Around 11am, a 35-year-old man's body was spotted in the river near Katthirmatha area.
SP Moniruzzaman said that they had contacted Munshiganj in connection with the bodies.
Two more bodies were found yet again in the river Meghna in Haimchar Upazila on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, locals had spotted two bodies from the Upazila's Nilkamal Union.
Haimchar Police Station OC Md Manir Uz Zaman said that two bodies, one of which is a female's, were found in the Union's Majhirbazar and Miahbazar areas.
Another corpse was spotted on Wednesday afternoon in the river near Raj Rajeshwar area of the Sadar Upazila.
Raj Rajeshwar Marine Police's sub-inspector Jahid Hossain said that the locals informed about the floating body around 3pm.
Two bodies, including one of a female, were found in Nariya Upazila's Sureshwar Wapda area while another was found in the Upazlia's Char Atra area on Wednesday.
Locals in Char Atra area informed police of the floating body of a female in river Meghna.
Nariya's UNO Manira Begum told bdnews24.com that they had identified the body as that of Jannat Nayeem Lucky, niece of Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan.
Lucky, who studied at a university in China, was on the ill-fated vessel with two of her cousins.
All three were relatives of the minister.
The body of one of them, Nusrat Jahan Heera, 20, was retrieved Monday, hours after the launch capsized in strong currents at Louhajang turning point.
Heera's sister Fatematuz Johra Swarna is yet to be traced.
Munshiganj's Superintendent of Police (in-charge) Zakir Hossain Majumder said that the bodies recovered from Sureshwar Wapda area were identified as Mizanur Rahman from Madaripur's Shibchar Upazila and Rita Akter of Faridpur's Nagarkanda Upazila.
Meanwhile, locals in the Sidar Char area of Nariya Upazila said that relatives had recovered three bodies from the river Padma.
Munshiganj's Louhajang Police OC Tofazzal Hossain, however, said that the local administration had no such information.
One found in Barisal
Police recovered a woman's body near the Laharhat ferry-landing station of the Sadar Upazila.
Barisal Port Police Station's OC Rezaul Karim said that it might be one of the Pinak-6 victims and that they were contacting Munshiganj in connection with the recovery.
