UNB, Dhaka :
The Department of Shipping fined three launches Thursday for failing to have the required safety equipment in the engine rooms and not doing everything necessary to ensure a safe journey for the passengers.
Also, seven launches were cautioned during the drive in all the Dhaka-bound launches at Barishal river port to avoid recurring nightmares of fatal accidents on the waterways.
Syed Morad Ali, the executive magistrate at the Department of Shipping, conducted the drive in the evening.
“With the help of Barishal district administration, we conducted a drive in all Dhaka-bound launches,” said Morad.
“MV Sundarban-11 launch was fined Tk40,000, Parabat-7 Tk15,000, and Kuakata-2 Tk30,000 for having expired fire extinguishers, not placing life-saving buoys in the right way, and failing to ensure proper safety in the engine room. And the drive will continue.”
Several luxury launches are carrying hundreds of passengers every day without ensuring adequate fire safety measures.
However, some of them are equipped with elevators, well-furnished rooms, radars, wifi, radio communication and modern gadgets.
But the owners often overlook the issue of fire safety. There is always a risk of accident on the horizon.
The confirmed death toll from Friday’s deadly launch fire off the coast of Jhalakathi rose to 47 on Wednesday evening, as a man admitted with over 40 per cent burns succumbed to his injuries at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
According to a list maintained by Red Crescent Bangladesh’s Jhalakathi district office, at least 58 were still missing as of Wednesday.
