Shipping minister\\\'s 3 nieces were on sunken launch

Three nieces of Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan were aboard 'Pinak-6', on its way to Mawa from Kewrakandi, when it sank in Padma River near Munshiganj's Lauhajang Upazila. The body of one of them, Nusrat Jahan Heera, 20, was retrieved around 1:30pm on Monday, hours after the double-decker rivercraft capsized in strong currents at Lauhajang turning point near Lauhajang Ferry Ghat. But the two others are still missing along with around 170 passengers. 'Some families have lost ten members in this mishap. Three of my nieces were in the launch too. They are Swarna, Heera and Lucky," the minister told reporters Tuesday after visiting the disaster site. Heera was in the launch with her sister Fatematuz Johra Swarna, 18, and their cousin Jannat Nayeem Lucky. Heera was a second-year MBBS student at Shikdar Medical College and Swarna had just got herself admitted to the Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College after passing the SSC examinations. They were the daughters of Nurul Islam Muhuri of Guatola in Madaripur's Shibchar. The three were returning to Dhaka after the Eid vacation. 'I didn't know this at first. My wife told me later,' Shajahan Khan said. Pinak-6, with a sanctioned capacity for 150 passengers, had around 350 people on board when it capsized in Padma around 11:30am on Monday. Three bodies had been found until Tuesday afternoon and 110 were rescued, while 170 are still missing, according to a news agency.