3 more bodies recovered from sunken launch

Three more bodies were recovered from ‘MV-Shathil-1’ on Sunday morning, raising to the death toll from Saturday’s launch capsize at Kolagachhia at Golachipa uapzila in Patuakhali to 10. Meanwhile, authorities and the locals said 33 people were still missing till filing this report at 10:00am. Police said divers pulled out three bodies from the river in the morning. The deceased could not be identified immediately. Patuakhali BIWTA sources said, salvage ship ‘Rustam’ will reach the spot around 2:00pm today (Sunday) to rescue the sunken launch. Hospital and local sources said the 10 people found dead in the launch and in the Golachipa River included a child and four women. Five of the dead were identified as Rahat Rifat, 5, Lutfa Begum, 55, Monwara Begum, 30, Runiya Begum, 20, and Nipa Begum, 25. Of some 60 passengers aboard the launch, as many as 33 were missing till filing this report at 10:00am. The others are said to have swum ashore. MV Shathil 1, sank around 2:30pm while it was going to Patuakhali town from Rangabali, one kilometre away from Kolagachhia ghat (terminal), amid stormy weather. Most of the passengers were female, said Ashraf Hossain, a passenger of the launch. “Shareng (launch operator) tried hard to control the launch when the nor’wester began, but he failed due to strong winds,” he added. Earlier, the same vessel sank on January 31, according to a news agency.