UNB :
The bodies of 23 people, who were burned to death in a massive fire in a crowded launch near Jhalakathi on Friday, were buried in a mass graveyard in Barguna district on Saturday.
The bodies were buried at Potkakhali mass graveyard in Sadar upazila around 12 pm.
Earlier, a namaz-e-janaza of 30 launch fire victims was held at Barguna Circuit House at 11 am joined by several hundred people.
The local administration had taken preparations to bury the 30 unidentified deceased in the government graveyard but after the namaz-e-janaza seven of them were identified by their family members, said Barguna Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman .
The district administration authorities handed over the identified bodies to their respective families and buried 23 bodies in 21 graves .
Barguna Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman on Friday said they received 37 bodies on Friday night from Jhalakathi General Hospital and the bodies of seven people were handed over to the families of the victims on Saturday.
Of them, four bodies were handed over to their families in Barishal and Jhalakathi districts, he said adding three more bodies were identified at night and handed over to families from Barguna General Hospital morgue.
The authorities concerned have collected the DNA samples of the deceased. However, it is still not clear how many people are still missing, he said.
A control room has been opened to collect information of the missing people and the family members of the missing people have been asked to provide necessary assistance to the local administration.
“The identities of the missing people will be known within one or two days,” hoped the deputy commissioner.
