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Search and rescue efforts have rolled into the second day after a ferry carrying several vehicles sank in the Padma River near Manikganj’s Paturia terminal.
The operation resumed around noon on Thursday, according to Abdul Salam, a senior official at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority’s Paturia office.
The vessel capsized near terminal No. 5 in Paturia with nine trucks on board around 8 am on Wednesday. The ferry’s second driver, 39-year-old Humayun Kabir, was reported missing afterwards.
In the wake of the incident, authorities launched a search and rescue operation, which was eventually suspended at 10:30 pm due to heavy fog, according to Jewel Hasan, a BIWTC collector at Aricha.
“Of the nine trucks, two have been recovered. The rescue work was postponed and resumed again on Thursday morning,” he said.
By 11 am on Thursday, another rescue vessel had arrived at the site. Additionally, one more ship has departed from Narayanganj to join the rescue efforts.
However, Mizanur Rahman, the owner of one of the trucks on the ferry, expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the rescue operation.
“We are not happy with the rescue operation. Since the ferry sank yesterday, only two trucks have been salvaged. That’s a significant loss for us. If the truck had been retrieved more quickly, perhaps some of the goods could have been saved.”
Rubel, a local resident, also lamented the progress of the salvage work. “The ferry sank yesterday, but the rescue ship couldn’t arrive in time. If the trucks had been retrieved sooner, some of the goods might have been salvaged.”
Abdul Hamid, the deputy assistant director of Manikganj Fire Service, said that the start of the second day’s rescue operation was delayed due to heavy fog and the need to wait for instructions from the BIWTC.
“We are hopeful that the remaining seven trucks will be retrieved today.”
Highlighting the challenges facing the rescue operation, he said, “The rescue vessel Prattay is currently in Mawa and is expected to arrive by late evening. The operation has been difficult to conduct with only one rescue ship. It would be more effective with all three ships involved.”
Meanwhile, Shah Mohammad Khaled Nawaz, regional deputy general manager of the BIWTC in Aricha, said authorities have yet to find the ferry’s missing crew member. “Humayun Kabir is still missing and is presumed to be trapped inside the sunken vessel.”
Authorities are still unclear about the exact cause of the incident and an investigation is underway to pinpoint the reasons, he added.