8 killed, 5 missing as boat sinks in Bangladesh

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - At least eight bodies were recovered, including children and women, after a bulkhead hit a passenger boat late Saturday in the Bangladeshi central district of Munshiganj.

“We resumed the rescue operation on Sunday morning to search for 5 missing passengers as claimed by the locals and their families,” Louhajung Fire Service Station officer Mohammad Abdul Malek told Anadolu.

He said teams recovered the bodies and rescued 34 others.

The engine-run boat carrying 46 passengers sank in a part of the mighty Padma River near Tongibari town. Passengers were returning from a picnic, according to officials.

Two of the dead are male children, in addition to two women and four children, according to Malek.

The Bangladesh Navy joined rescue operations, according the Inter Services Public Relation Directorate (ISPR).

Police seized the bulkhead but the driver and others onboard are on the run. A five-member probe body has been formed to look into the incident, according to Munshiganj district police and administration.

Bangladesh is crisscrossed by more than 500 rivers.

Natural calamities such as storms and cyclones, fog in the winter, lack of vessel fitness, unskilled drivers and overcrowding have been factors in the causes of accidents.

More than 550 passenger ships capsized between 1991 and 2020, killing over 3,600 people and leaving nearly 500 missing, according to records from the Shipping Department of Bangladesh.