At least 41 people were killed and more than 70 sustained injuries as a crowded passenger launch caught fire in the Sugandha river in Jhalakathi in the early hours of Friday.
A total of 36 bodies of passengers have been recovered from the sport so far and another burn injured person passed away while undergoing treatment at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal hospital, police said.
Various reports claim that the 'MV Ovijan 10' launch, which was carrying 800 passengers, has been traveling at breakneck speeds since leaving Sadarghat terminal at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Technicians were trying to repair two freshly installed reconditioned engines of thesince the prior engines had been operating poorly.
After the refurbished engines were installed on December 7, the launch was put through its paces. The launch resumed its path on December 19, despite some problems with the freshly mounted engines.
When the fire broke out about 3 a.m., the launch was about 1.5 kilometers from the Jhalakathi launch terminal.
Many passengers leapt from the vessel into cold waters to escape the blaze. After being notified of the occurrence, the local Fire Department raced to the scene and worked for two hours to put out the fire. Officials from the local police force, the coast guard, and the district administration aided in the rescue.
It took 15 fire engines two hours to control the fire and another eight to cool down the vessel, according to fire officer Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan, who led the rescue operation.
Shipping Ministry, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and district administration formed three separate probe bodies to look into the incident. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury visited the spot and announced that BIWRA will provide Taka 1.5 lakh to each family of those who were killed in Jhalakathi launch fire as financial aid.
Jhalakathi district administration announced to provide Taka 25,000 to each family of those who were killed in the fire incident. The state minister also visited burn injured people at Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital and enquired about their treatment. Talking to journalist, he said a seven-member probe body headed by the ministry's joint secretary Tofayel Ahmed was formed to look into the fire incident. The committee has been asked to submit probe report within three working days.