At least 36 people died, and almost 200 others were injured on Friday after a packed three-story ferry carrying approximately 500 passengers caught fire on the Sugandha River in southern Bangladesh, officials said, in the latest marine disaster to befall the delta nation crisscrossed by rivers.
The fire broke out around 3:00 am (local time) on Friday in the engine room of the Barguna-bound MV Abhijan-10 launch that started a journey from Dhaka.
"The authorities retrieved the charred bodies of at least 36 persons after a fire broke out aboard a passenger launch on the Sugandha River near Jhalakathi, 250 kilometers south of the capital Dhaka, The Dhaka Tribune said. The fire also left nearly 200 people with burn injuries, and they are currently undergoing treatment from nearby hospitals. The report described the launch administration, police, fire department, workers.
The death toll is sure to climb as additional passengers have been injured. Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies so far from the burnt launch, Jhalakathi Deputy Commissioner Zohor Ali said. As many as 72 persons have been hospitalized with injuries, according to the Fire Service control room, bdnews24.com said.
Many people leaped into the river in a frantic bid to save their lives while the fire raged for approximately three hours. Survivors claim the launch was packed with passengers. Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan, deputy director of the Barishal Fire Service who spearheaded the reaction, said they suspect the fire may have begun in the launch's engine room.
"After receiving the information, 15 firefighting units led by Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan, deputy director of Barishal Division Fire Service and Civil Defence went to the scene at 3:50 am and brought the fire under control at 5:20 am," said a fire service control room statement. "The engine room of the launch suddenly caught fire around 3:00 am and spread rapidly when the vessel was near the Gabkhan Bridge," Saidur Rahman, one of the survivors, was reported as saying by the Daily Star newspaper.
"There were roughly 500 passengers including children and seniors. Many of them leapt in the river and were able to swim ashore," he claimed. "I smelled a burning scent and came out of VIP cabin to find out that there was a fire. Me, my wife and brother-in-law then dove in the frigid water and swam to the bank," he added.
A probe will be initiated to ascertain the cause of the fire and the magnitude of the consequential damage. The disaster was the latest in a succession of such instances in Bangladesh, a small country crisscrossed by a network of 230 rivers of varied sizes and shapes. These watercourses cover almost 7 percent of the overall area of the country.
An overloaded speedboat purportedly driven by an unskilled teenage kid capsized in Bangladesh after a collision with a sand-laden vessel in May this year, killing 26 persons. In June last year, a boat carrying over 100 passengers sank in the Buriganga river in Bangladesh after it was rammed from behind by another ship, killing at least 32 people.
In February 2015, at least 78 passengers perished when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo vessel.
