17 die in boat capsizes in two days

At least 17 people drowned as boats capsized in three rivers across the country in last three days, the worst such accident having taken place in Kushtia.    
In Sirajganj, reports UNB, six people were drowned and about 20-30 went missing when a boat capsized in the Jamuna River at Charmituani in Chouhali upazila on Thursday morning.  Chouhali Police Station officer-in-charge Shamsul Haque said, "The boat carrying 50-60 people sank in the river around 11:15am due to strong current."
Local people and police recovered the bodies of four people immediately after the accident. Later, two more bodies were recovered by local people around 1pm.
About 20-30 passengers managed to swim to the shore.
Meanwhile, police have so far recovered the bodies of nine  of the passengers from six different places in the river since a boat with 19 passengers capsized in the Padma River at Bairagir Char in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia on the Eid-day (Tuesday). Three people were still missing-three days after the ferry mishap.The deceased include Mala Akhter Poly, Kalu Sheikh, 18, Shikha, 18, Shahajul, 28, Shipon, 28, Bithi, 14, Imran, 14, and Divar, 20.  Seven people were rescued alive by local people immediately after the boat had capsized.
According to the survivors, they were on a pleasure trip from Bairagir Char to a newly emerged shoal in the Padma on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
The boat left Bairagir Char around 3pm, and, after a while, it capsized after being caught in a violent storm near the new char, they said in a spot account of the ferry mishap.    
A five-member diving team of the fire service, led by its Khulna-unit leader Kazi Nadir, also had conducted  rescue operation in the river for several hours since early hours on Wednesday.
In Munshiganj, two people died and another two were injured as a small boat capsized in a water body in Tongibari upazila Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Tania Akhter, 18, daughter of Latif Miah, and Afsana Akhter, 14, daughter of Delwar Hossain of Nitaiganj in Narayanganj district.
Duty officer of Tongibari Police Station assistant sub-inspector Mosharraf Hossain said a group of six people, all relatives, went on a journey by boat in a beel at Mariyalaya Belua village at noon. At one stage, the boat sank in the water body.
Two of those on the boat managed to swim ashore. Locals rescued the remaining four and rushed them to a local hospital where doctors declared Tania and Afsana dead.