The death toll from the fatal collision between two launches on the Buriganga River has climbed to 32 after two more bodies were pulled from the river.
The incident took place near Dhaka’s Shyambazar at around 9:30 am on Monday, according to the Fire Service.
The launch, Morning Bird, was heading toward Sadarghat from Munshiganj when it collided with the Moyuri-2 vessel from Chandpur, said BIWTA transport inspector Md Selim.
Morning Bird was carrying more than 50 passengers and some of them swam ashore. The other passengers remained trapped inside the vessel, reports bdnews24.com.
Divers from the fire service subsequently arrived on the scene and began the rescue operation together with Navy and Coast Guard personnel.
The rescuers recovered 30 bodies from the Buriganga River, including three children, eight women and 19 men, until Monday afternoon. Two more passengers were declared dead after they were taken to hospital.
But the authorities could not immediately identify the dead nor confirm the number of missing passengers.
Later, some locals rescued two more passengers and rushed them to Mitford Hospital where the doctors pronounced them dead, according to Dhaka district's Superintendent of Police Maruf Hossain Sarder.
Witnesses said the Mayuri-2 was travelling backwards as it prepared to dock at Sadarghat's terminal for Chandpur after unloading passengers at the Lalkuthi terminal when the vessel crashed into the Morning Bird, which had sailed behind it.
Director-General of the Fire Service Brig-Gen Sazzad Hussain said the vessel lay overturned at the bottom of the river near the area of the collision, making it difficult for divers to enter the sunken launch to look for more bodies.
