Staff Reporter :Eight people, including four children, were killed and 30 passengers went missing as a trawler carrying at least 100 passengers capsized in the river Meghna at Monpura upazila in Bhola on Thursday morning.The among others dead were identified as Ayesha Khatun, 65, Jesmin, 22, Rupa, 3, Tanju, 3, Tahmina, 3, and Mishu, 2. All of them hailed from Monpura upazila.Police said, the trawler bound for Hajirhat from Kalatoli sank in the Meghna river due to inclement weather around 11:30. Fishermen claimed that they had recovered eight bodies.Besides, they rescued 20 passengers from the river. Fifteen of them were admitted to Monpura Hospital.Mohammad Selim Reza, Deputy Commissioner of Bhola, visited the spot and directed to take step to rescue the missing people. Md Hanif Sikder, Officer-in-Charge of Monpura Police Station, said that the death toll might increase. Heavy stream in the river is hampering the rescue operation, he added.He said the vessel left for Kalatali around 10am and sank within half an hour in heavy rain. “Most of the passengers were rescued with the help of the fishermen, but around 30 are still missing.” Meanwhile, the capsized trawler had been salvaged from the river by the help of local people.It may be mentioned that bad weather forced suspension of operations at several key points.Launch operations were suspended from Dhaka and Narayanganj to southern district of Barisal and vice-verse. Bad weather forced suspension of operation on 38 routes from Sadarghat launch terminal in Dhaka for half-an-hour, Joynal Abdin, Joint Director (Port Traffic) of Bangladesh Inland Water and Transport Authority (BIWTA), said.
