A two-year-old boy was among the six people who were killed in a launch accident on the Shitalakshya River in Narayanganj on Sunday.
The child has been identified as Mahid.
The other child, who died in the same accident, is aged around 7-8 years. But she could not be identified immediately.
Officials fear that casualties may increase even though some passengers managed to swim ashore.
The families of the victims are now lamenting their deaths while many others have been waiting to find their near and dear ones. Many of them have joined the rescuers to find the bodies.
On April 6 last year, the bodies of 34 people were recovered from the Shitalakkhya River after a launch capsized being hit by a cargo vessel in Narayanganj.
Several dozen passengers of the launch, “ML Ashraf Uddin”, have remained missing since the incident took place around 2:20pm in the Syedpur Al Amin Nagar area.
The cargo vessel that fled the scene after hitting the launch, “MV Rupshi-9”, was later seized from Gajaria in Munshiganj.
Also Read - Death toll reaches six, many feared missing in Shitalakshya launch capsize
Witnesses said that both the vessels were heading towards Munshiganj and the launch was in the lead. The accident took place when the cargo vessel hit the launch from behind, giving the master of the small vessel no chance to change its direction.
Video footage of the accident shows the ill-fated passengers of “ML Ashraf Uddin” throwing their arms in the air and crying for help when the launch began to capsize.
It took the launch no time to submerge in the water and only a handful of passengers could make it to the bank.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) along with the River Police, Navy, Coast Guard, Red Cross and members of Urban Community Volunteer were conducting rescue operations alongside Fire Service.
Salvage vessels “Rustom” and “Prottoy” are on the spot to find and pull out the sunken launch.