News Desk :
The government on Friday formed a probe committee over the deadly fire, which claimed at least 39 lives.
The fire broke out on a Barguna-bound launch in the Sugandha river at Sadar upazila in Jhalakathi district at about 3:00am on Friday which also left over 200 people burn injured.
The Ministry of Shipping formed the seven-member probe body making Joint Secretary Tofayel Ahmed and Deputy Secretary Aminur Rahman its convener and member secretary respectively, said a notification issued by the ministry.
The committee has representatives from Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), the
shipping ministry, naval police, Jhalakathi district administration, and fire service and civil defence.
It was asked to submit a report to the shipping ministry within three working days, the notification added.
Earlier, the BIWTA and the district administration formed two separate bodies to investigate the fire incident.
It was learnt that the ‘MV Abhijan-10’ launch, carrying around one thousand passengers, was going to Barguna from Dhaka. The engine room of the vessel suddenly caught fire at about 3:00am on Friday and soon spread all over the launch while it was on the middle of the river.
Panic spread among the passengers and many of them jumped into the river and managed to swim ashore.
The launch was later anchored to Ponabalia area on the riverbank.
