Bangladeshi authorities announced Friday they have completed the rescue operation on a capsized ferry in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka with 39 bodies recovered.
Bangladesh shipping authorities Friday morning salvaged the capsized passenger ferry from the Buriganga River near capital Dhaka with more bodies recovered leading the death toll to 39.
The capsized ferry named Launch MV Saurav hit by a cargo loaded with sand sank in the river Thursday afternoon with around 150 passengers on board. Most passengers were returning to their home villages in nearby Munshiganj district, 30 km southeast of Dhaka, at the weekend.
Salvage ship “Rustam” started salvaging the ferry Thursday night and after 7-hour frantic efforts “Rustam” pulled out the sunken ship from 45-feet deep water early Friday.
A fire brigade official told reporters at the scene that they searched inside the ferry and found seven more bodies raising the death toll to 39. "The rescue operation is over now," he added.
However, local people and rescuers did not ruled out apprehension that some passengers might have washed away by the strong current of the river.
Of the casualties 18 are women, 12 men and 9 children.
Police, Fire Brigade and Coast Guard divers joined the rescue operation immediately after the accident.
Bangladeshi caretaker government Advisor (Minister) to the Homeand Shipping Ministries Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin visited the scene of disaster and assured that victims' families would be compensated under the law. Each victim's family would be given 30,000 taka (about 428 US dollars).
The authorities set up an inquiry committee to probe the accident and the committee was asked to submit its findings and recommendations within next five days.
The ferry disaster is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh particularly during the summer time as river route is one of the ways for coastal transportation.
In May 2002, at least 450 people were killed when a ferry with around 500 passengers on board capsized during a storm in the Meghna River, one of the three major rivers in Bangladesh. According to a rough statistics nearly 5,000 people died in ferry disasters in last 32 years.
Past investigation reports said faulty ferry designs, over-crowded passengers, unskilled masters (driver) and weak weather signaling system were causes of most of the ferry disasters.
Source: Xinhua
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