26 bodies recovered

At least 26 bodies were retrieved from Meghna River in the last 16 hours after an over-crowded launch capsized near Daulatpur Ghat at Munshiganj's Gazaria during storms on Thursday afternoon. ‘MV Miraj-4’, the Sureshwar-bound launch from Dhaka, carrying more than 200 passengers, sank in Meghna River at Gazaria around 4:00pm after it was caught by a violent storm. Rescuers, locals and hospital sources said 26 bodies were recovered till 8:00am today. Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner (DC) Saiful Hasan Badal said from the scene of the accident that 12 bodies had been recovered until 7:30pm on Thursday. Munshiganj Police Station OC Shahidul Islam said 13 more bodies were retrieved until 4:00am on Friday. Rescuers, locals and hospital sources said one more body was rescued from the launch in the morning. Forty other passengers had been rescued by BIWTA divers, Fire Brigade and Civil Defence personnel and members of Coast Guard while Some 78 people either managed to swim ashore or were rescued by passing boats and trawlers or locals after the accident. Besides, about 60 passengers, mostly women and children, still remained missing, they said. DC Saiful Hasad said two salvage ships – ‘Durbar’ and ‘Prottoy’ – reached the spot around 7:30pm on Thursday and joined the operation to salvage ‘MV Miraj-4’. Among the dead, 21 were identified as: Jamal Hossain Shikdar, 50, his son Abir Hossain Sikdar, 28; Mahi, 4, Sumona, 8, Jalil Malot, 50, Manik, 14, Abdullah Al Redwan, 40, Rashida Begum, 60, Khorshed Ali Khondokar, 35, Osman Gani Mollah, 40, Ismail Fakir, 65, Khrishna Mandol, 50, Abdul Jalil, 55, Aklima Akhter Ria, Rahima Begum, 55, Laily Begum, Ritu Akhter, 12, Mannan Dewan, 50, Setara Begum, 50, Arif, 11, and Tumpa Begum, 30.Tumpa’s husband, Liton Hossain, a survivor, said their children ‘Sumona’, 8, and ‘Mahim’, 6, were still unaccounted-for. Rescue vessels Durbar and Prottoy reached Daulatdia around 6:30pm from Narayanganj to salvage the launch. Rescuers have pinpointed the sunken launch’s position about 80 feet below the surface, said Prottoy’s Petty Officer MHA Masud. He said they had found the launch lying tilted on the river bed. The 110 by 35 feet vessel weighs 110 tonnes. Rescue vessel Prottoy can lift 250 tonnes. Mahmud Hossain, a transport inspector for Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) at Dhaka’s Sadarghat terminal, said MV Miraj-4 left Dhaka for Sureshwar at 1pm on Thursday, according to private TV channels and agencies.