The wailing of family members of victims of the sunken vessel Miraz – 4 in the river Meghna at Gazaria, Munshiganj on Thursday staged noisy protests on Friday asking for bodies of their dear and near ones. Despite deployment of rescue vessels the sunken vessel could not be salvaged till the time of filing the report on Friday night at 10 PM. Relatives of those missing in the accident gathered at the Meghna river and expressed their anger for delay in the rescue of the vessel. They also raised slogans asking for bodies of the victims. “There was delay in rescuing the launch, as it remained carved, we would be able to rescue it,” Chairman of BIWTA Dr. M. Shamsuddoha said. Attempts were made to lift the launch with a crane at around 11 am on Friday but the vessel sank again as a wire of the crane tore down, he said adding salvage vessel ‘Pratay’ with the help of ‘Durbar’ and ‘Durjoy’ was conducting the operation to pull up the sunken launch, which was located 80 feet under the water. Relatives of the victims are waiting on the bank of the Mehna river as more than 100 people still remain missing. The death toll stood at 29, including 16 women and children of which 15 bodies were recovered on Friday, police said.Strong currents have hampered the rescue operation of MV Miraz-4, a double-decker launch with more than 200 passengers, capsized after it was hit by three strong waves. About 45-50 people managed to swim ashore , police said. The district administration has kept ambulance ready so that the bodies could be handed over to the victims family, said Saiful Islam Badal, Deputy Commissioner of Munsiganj. The government has announced to give Tk 20,000 to each family of the victims for the burial while Tk 50,000 as compensation. “I came here yesterday for my brother. Nobody can assure me of anything,” said Lokman Hossain.Meanwhile, a three-member probe committee has been formed to inquire into the incident and the committee has been asked to submit its report within seven working days, said Sirajul Islam, Chief Engineer of BIWTA. Out of 29 bodies recovered from the sunken vessel 21 were identified as Mohammad Jamal Shikdar, 50, Setara Begum, 55, Tumpa Begum, 26, Mahi,4, Abir, 2, Sumona,8, Jalil Malat, 50, Manik,14, Abdullah Al Redowan, 40, Rashida Begum, 60, Khorshed Ali Khandakar, 35, Osman Goni Mollah, 40, Ismail Fakir, 65, Kamal Das, 50,Krishna Mandal, 50, Abdul Jalil, 55, Aklima Akter Riya, Rahima Begum, 55, Lailee Begum, 50, Ritu Akter, 12, Mannan Dewan, 50. The rescue operation began soon after the accident by the local people at Daulatpur in the Meghna River. Later, the workers of Fire Service and Civil Defence, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard joined the rescue operation. Abdur Rahman, 55, a passenger of the launch, said: “Suddenly black clouds covered the sky and strong winds began to blow. The passengers asked the master of the vessel to lay anchor at the river bank, but he did not pay heed to it. Strong winds forced the launch to go under water.”It is the second launch accident in two weeks. At least 15 people drowned when a launch carrying over 60 passengers went down in the Golachipa in Patuakhali during a nor’wester on May 3.
