Rescuers until last night were able to recover the body of only one passenger of the capsized Pinak 6, raising the number to three, while relatives of over a hundred missing people remained in dark whether the bodies could be found for burial.
The launch could not be traced until 10pm apparently because of bad weather and strong current of Padma River.
Many of the family members kept waiting on the river bank while some others were frantically going to the rescue officials of the BIWTA, the Navy, the fire service divers and the Coast Guard to know whether any more body was recovered.
According to the rescuers, the possibility of tracing the launch is going away far with time.
Chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) M Shamsuddoha Khandakar last night briefed reporters about the salvage operation at the Mawa ghat. He said they would start a joint and intensive search operation within few hours.
“Three ships equipped with side scan SONAR systems will carry out the search operation simultaneously. Each of the system will search the waters covering around 200 metres and therefore, the ships will search 600 metres of the Kawrakandi to Mawa route,” he said.
The ships – one each from Navy, BIWTA and BIWTC – would also search one kilometre in the upstream and three kilometres in the downstream, he added.
He said during the operation, the authorities would impose restrictions so that small vessels could not operate at that time.
“We are not sure when the launch can be traced. Things are getting harder,” he told the Dhaka Tribune in the evening.
Comparing with previous experience of salvaged launches, he said: “This time the current is stronger and water is muddy. We have so far searched 20km of downstream by following sweeping technique with modern equipment. But still it is uncertain.”
Double-decker Pinak 6 sank in the river in Louhajang upazila of Munshiganj with more than 250 people on its way to Mawa ghat from Kawrakandi terminal on Monday morning. After the end of the day, rescuers recovered the unconscious bodies of two women. They died later.
Police yesterday said body of a woman found floating in Meghna River in Chandpur in the morning could be of one of the missing victims.
Meanwhile, the information centre set up by the district administration at Mawa ghat recorded the number of missing passengers to be 129 until 8pm.
Frustrated for not getting any development, relatives of the missing passengers blocked a road in front of Padma Rest House near the Mawa ghat for an hour since 8:30am. They alleged that the rescue work had been sluggish. Later police managed them to leave the road.
The aggrieved relatives earlier staged protest at the same place around 2:30am.
“It cannot happen that the government fails to find out a small launch in two days. They are actually doing nothing. We did not see a single diver diving into the river,” said Mahbub Alam, relative of a missing passenger while waiting on the riverbank.
“My two sisters are gone. I do not know, nobody knows, where they are now under the water,” he said.
Meanwhile, rescue vessel “Nirvik” joined “Rustom” yesterday morning. Another vessel “Jorip 10” having Sonar (sound, operation, navigation and ranging) technology installed had to return to Chittagong because of bad weather.
It started from Chittagong around 11am as it has the capacity of locating a vessel under water, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told Dhaka Tribune at Mawa ghat.
“But the 14-metre vessel was facing difficulties reaching the spot as the sea was too rough,” said Member (Harbour and Marine) of Chittagong Port Authority Commodore M Shahjahan. The vessel could cross the outer anchorage of the port around 3pm, he added.
The equipment of Jorip 10 were later shifted to “Kandari 2” which started from Chittagong at the same time. It may reach the spot around noon.
These equipment might help tracing the launch easily, the minister said since it had sub-bottom propeller which can identify solid things even under the riverbed. The GPS system would then be used to get the exact location of the sunken vessel.
The launch sank amid high winds in the choppy waters where the depth of water is around 90 feet. The local administration could not confirm how many people had managed to swim ashore. But locals, who took part in the rescue operation, said 50 to 60 passengers made it to the shore. Most of them were returning to Dhaka after celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr at their village homes.
Talking about the rescue method, Captain Nazrul Islam of the Navy said: “We are following the latest side-scan Sonar technology. Our two vessels have these tools. These can search in an areas of 100 metres on both side of the vessel.
“Since morning, we searched in two kilometres upstream of the river and five kilometres in the downstream. Later we started searching randomly. The machine will detect any object lying on the riverbed.”
He, however, said: “But the problem is we do not know the exact location of the capsize. As time passes by, either the launch is washed away or covered by sand.” In that case, “Jorip 10” would be able to detect it.
The Navy official said they were not confirm whether they would be able to find the launch finally. He said it was the smallest one plying on that route.
‘One more body found’
The police claimed that body of a woman found floating in Chandpur could be of one of the missing victims.
The bodies of a woman and a man, aged about 25 and 30 respectively, were recovered from the Meghna River in Haimchar upazila of Chandpur, Md Moniruzzaman, OC of Haimchar police, told the Dhaka Tribune.
“We suspect that the woman might be a victim of Monday’s launch capsize. As the other body has already started to decompose, we think that the victim died two to three days back,” the OC said.
Meanwhile, relatives yesterday identified the body of a woman which was recovered soon after the launch sank. The victim is Hashi Begum, 50, wife of Alam Sheikh of Utrail, Shibchar. His brother Hannan took the body around noon.
Two cases lodged
The Department of Shipping yesterday filed a case with the Marine Court over the capsize.
Jahangir Alam, public relations officer of the ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune that the case had been filed accusing the vessel’s owner AB Siddiqui Kalu, the master (driver) and the machine operator.
Director General M Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan filed the case, Jahangir said. The DG also cancelled the registration and the survey certificate of Pinak 6.
Meanwhile, the BIWTA yesterday filed a criminal case with Louhajang police accusing six persons including the owner, who is a Munshiganj BNP leader, on charges of homicide, reckless operation and carrying passengers beyond capacity.
If found guilty, the accused would be given maximum life term jail sentence.
‘Over 100 people boarded midway’
The sunken launch had taken on board over 100 extra passengers at a terminal halfway to Mawa from Kawrakandi, the shipping minister said yesterday.
Shajahan Khan said the launch owner, workers and the management would face legal action because of this disaster.
“We have found that the launch had around 170 people when it started from Kawrakandi. But it took on board more than 100 passengers at the Kathalbari launch terminal,” he told reporters after visiting the site.
“If it had come to Mawa directly, it would not have capsized. Overloading of passengers is the main reason for this disaster,” he added.
The vessel had an approval for carrying 85 passengers only, officials said.
Minister’s 2 nieces missing
Three nieces of the minister were aboard Pinak 6. The body of one of them, Nusrat Jahan Heera, 20, was recoverd around 1:30pm on Monday, hours after the launch capsized in strong currents. But the two others are still missing.
“Some families have lost 10 members in this mishap. Three of my nieces were on the launch too. They are Swarna, Heera and Lucky,” he told reporters.
Heera was travelling with her sister Fatematuz Zohra Swarna, 18, and their cousin Jannat Nayeem Lucky.
Heera was a second year MBBS student at ZH Shikdar Women’s Medical College while Swarna took admission in Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College recently after passing the SSC examinations. They are the daughters of Nurul Islam Muhuri of Guatola in Madaripur’s Shibchar. They were returning to Dhaka after the Eid vacation.
“I did not know this at first. Later my wife told me about it,” he said.
