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Over 100 Feared Dead in Launch Capsizing in South Bangladesh
More than 100 people, including about 40 children, are feared dead in the launch accident early Friday morning in the Meghna river near Chandpur town, some 169 kilometers southeast to Dhaka, The Independent newspaper reported Sunday.
The river police and local people have so far recovered 81 bodies from the smashed launch, which collided head on with another launch due to poor visibility as dense fog blanketed the river route.
Police and witnesses said the double-decker MV Rajhongshi with about 250 passengers, most of whom were daily wage earning women and children between 6 months to 12 years, immediately sank 30 feet deep into the river after being hit by a Dhaka-bound launch MV Jolkapot-2, which escaped unhurt and reached Dhaka safely.
As the passengers were asleep, most of them could neither manage to come out of the launch nor jump or swim ashore. Only those who were on the roof could swim ashore, said the survivors, adding that the victims were "mostly babies, small children and women."
The police attributed the accident to overloading of passengers and early morning dense fog. A three-member inquiry committee headed by Deputy Secretary of the Shipping Ministry M.A. Malek has been formed to probe the accident.
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