Staff Reporter :
The death toll from Sunday’s boat capsize in the Karatoa River under Boda upazila of Panchagarh district has risen to 68 with the recovery of 18 more bodies till Tuesday afternoon, while at least four people still remain missing.
The authority concerned has apprehended that the number of death toll may rise further.
According to the investigation committee formed by the district administration, the incident of boat sinking in Karatoa river of Boda upazila of Panchagarh occurred due to the excess pressure of passengers. Additional Deputy Commissioner Dipankar Roy, head of the investigation committee, said, “it was asked to be submitted the investigation report within three working days. So, today is the 3rd day of investigation and we will submit it today. We have already collected all the video footages and talked to eyewitnesses including rescue workers. Even, people from both sides of the river were also interviewed. We primarily think that the terrible boat capsize happened due to the excess pressure of passengers.”
However, Dipankar Roy also said that 16 bodies were found till afternoon on Tuesday in different areas in the Karatoa river downstream.
Dipankar, also in-charge of a control room set up by the Panchagarh district administration, said that they were assuming that at least 11 people remained missing.
He also said that a joint rescue operation of police and fire service, stretching up to 80 kilometres downstream amid strong currents in the river, would continue until all bodies were found.
“Our rescue operation was suspended on Monday evening and the operation resumed again in today’s morning. We recovered more 16 bodies till afternoon. Our rescue operations will continue to search for those who are still missing,” Panchagarh Fire Service and Civil Defense Assistant-Deputy Director Sheikh Md. Mahabubul Islam said told this correspondent.
The bodies were recovered from Debiganj, Boda upazilas in Panchagarh and Atrai river in Birganj area of Dinajpur as the rescue drive has been underway for the third day. Among the victims, there were 30 women, 21 minors and 17 men. So far, 55 bodies were identified.
Earlier on Sunday, a small boat, carrying over 100 passengers, mostly Hindus from Marea union under Boda upazila, sank in the river Karatoa in the afternoon, minutes after it sailed from the Awaliar Ghat area in the district.
The boat was travelling to Bordeshwari temple in Boroshashi union in the same upazila on the occasion of Malalaya.
Relatives of the missing passengers were seen waiting in the control room and beside the river with teary eyes and heavy hearts to get the bodies.
The railways minister, Nurul Islam Sujan, on Tuesday, visited the spot.
Some of the passengers managed to swim to safety after the boat capsized.
The trawler was carrying double the number of passengers than it’s beyond capacity, according to the district administration.
It is learned that each of the victims of the tragic boat incident will receive Tk one lakh from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, Tk 25,000 from the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council and Tk 20,000 from the Zilla Parishad.
Meanwhile, two separate probe committees-one from the district administration and other from the Departemnt of Shipping (DoS)-have been formed to investigate into the accident. Both the committees asked to submit their reports within 13 working days.
