At least five people, including a couple and their four-year-old child, were killed after a rope tied to a launch snapped and hit them at the Sadarghat Launch Terminal in Dhaka on Thursday.
Several others were injured in the incident that occurred at pontoon-11 of the terminal around 3pm, said Zainal Abedin, the director of the maritime safety and traffic management department at BIWTA.
The injured were taken to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital or Mitford Hospital. Later, five of them died while undergoing treatment. They are Md Belal, 30, his wife Mukta, 24, their child Maisha, 4, Ripon Hawlader, 38, and Robiul, 19.
Belal used to work at a garment factory in Gazipur. He was going to Mathbaria of Pirojpur to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr at his village home, his brother-in-law Jahirul Islam told the media at Mitford Hospital.
According to witnesses and River Police, passenger launches MV Pubali-1 and MV Tasrif-4 were tied to the pontoon with wire ropes.
At one stage, the rope of MV Tasrif-4 broke into pieces and hit the passengers after another launch, MV Farhan-6, tried to anchor in between the two launches, said Fire Service Senior Officer Anwarul Islam Dolan.
