Staff Reporter :
A woman and her son were killed and eight others injured in a collision between Dhaka-bound ‘MV Kirtankhola-10’ and Bhandaria-bound ‘MV Farhan-9’ launches in the Meghna River under Haimchar upazila of Chandpur district early Monday.
The deceased were identified as Mahmuda Begum, 25, wife of one Rubel Khan Abbas, from Bakerganj upazila in Barishal and her son Momin Khan, 7. They were passengers of ‘MV Kirtankhola-10’ launch, said Chandpur River Police Station Officer In-Charge Abu Taher.
The ‘MV Kirtankhola-10’ launch left Barishal for Dhaka around 9:00pm on Sunday. On its way, another launch ‘MV Farhan-9’ coming from opposite side hit hard MV Kirtankhola in the char around 1:30am, leaving the duo dead on the spot and eight others injured, said Jhantu, counter manager of Kirtankhola.
The incident might have taken place due to dense fog and poor visibility, he added.
According to River Police Headquarters Control Room, MV Farhan-9 hit another launch, Kirtonkhola-10 from behind, which made Mahmuda and Mominul fall off from a top deck to a lower deck, killing them on the spot.
Meanwhile, Pirojpur Sadar Police arrested ‘MV Farhan-9’ Master Md Aktar Hossain and his aid Md Abdul Hamid soon after reached the launch in the dockyard on Monday afternoon.
Besides, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has formed a probe body to investigate the accident. It has ordered to seize the MV Farhan-9 launch.
