More than 400 passengers have been rescued from a launch that ran aground in a sandbank in the Meghna River in Chandpur district, officials said on Wednesday.
The passengers of the Barisal-bound ‘Sundarban-11’ were rescued by another vessel ‘MV Surovi-7’, according to the officials.
Alam Sardar, master of the stranded launch, said that ‘Sundarban-11’ carrying over 400 passengers experienced a technical glitch around midnight on Tuesday while heading towards Barisal.
"When it reached near Mohanpur in Chandpur, I steered it to a nearby sandbank to avoid any untoward situation," he said.
Faruk Hossain, a passenger on the launch, said it experienced the technical glitch around 11pm and got stuck in the sandbank around 12am, creating panic among the passengers.
Meanwhile, ‘MV Surovi-7’ that was passing by spotted the launch and rushed to its rescue, officials said. "All the passengers were rescued around 2am on Wednesday."
