Dhaka, Monday, February 21 (NNS): A total of 118 bodies have been recovered from the sunken launch in the Buriganga and many others still remain missing till noon Monday as the rescue operation is going on.
Salvage ship Hamza joined Rustam at 5:30am Monday and authorities were expecting to lift the sunken launch in hours.
The launch MV Maharaj carrying over 200 passengers left Sadarghat terminal for Matlab in Chandpur at 10pm Saturday and was caught in a tornado at Hazaribagh area between Paglabazar and Keraniganj at about 10.45 pm.
The launch went down in minutes.
BIWTA officials fear all the passengers died in the dark of the night.
However, 118 bodies could be recovered from the sunken launch till 12pm. Most of the dead were from Matlab under Chandpur district.
Of the dead, 84 are male, 25 female and nine minor. Sixteen of the dead could not be identified.
According to official sources the launch was carrying 167 passengers but other sources said it had more than 200.
A one-member enquiry committee has been formed by the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation with chief nautical surveyor of the Corporation Captain Jasimuddin as its lone member. The Committee has been directed to submit its report within a week.
Launch and boat disaster are common in Bangladesh, the calamity-prone country criss-crossed by around 250 river. Some 3,000 ferries ply rivers of the country everyday, with many of them always dangerously overcrowded.
At least 3,000 people have died in more than 260 ferry accidents in Bangladesh since 1977. (End/si)
