First Published Dec 25, 2021, 11:22 AM IST
EAt least 39 people were killed when a three-deck ferry caught fire on its way from the capital Dhaka to Barguna town yesterday morning (24.12.’21). The MV Avijan-10 was a small vessel with about 500 passengers on board. The ship caught fire in the early hours of the morning while crossing the middle of the Bishkhali river near the town of Jalakati. 37 bodies have been found so far. The death toll is expected to rise further, local police chief Moinul Islam said. It is learned that the passengers were returning home from Dhaka. The boat, which can carry 310 people, is believed to have carried about 500 people. The fire is believed to have spread from the engine room around 3am.
Frightened passengers jumped into the sea after a fire broke out in the angel room. Many drowned because they did not know how to swim. 39 bodies have been recovered so far. Local police chief Moinul Islam told AFP
The incident took place in a river near Dhaka, 250 km south of Dhaka, yesterday morning. Most of the victims were poor villagers. The fire, which was spotted in the Angel Room at around 3am local time, quickly spread to other parts of the country.
Survivors said the passengers, who were asleep at the time of the fire, jumped into the river. Moinul Islam said about 150 people had been admitted to hospitals in Barisal with burns.
‘We slept on a mat on the ground floor deck. All the other passengers were sound asleep. My nine-year-old grandson Naeem was with me. When he saw the fire burning, he jumped into the river. I do not know what happened to him, ‘said an elderly grandmother.
The ferry left the Sadarghat River station in Dhaka at 9 pm on Thursday. Other survivors said they saw a small fire in the engine room. Several people fled for safety as the fire spread.
But many could not get out of the sleeping cabins. Some jumped into the river, ‘said another survivor at Barisal Medical College Hospital. Within an hour of the blaze, paramedics rushed to the scene and rushed the injured to nearby hospitals, local district administrator Johar Ali said.
‘We talked to the passengers. They said there were between 500 and 700 passengers, ‘Johar Ali told AFP. ‘It is likely that the fire was contained for four or five hours before it was extinguished. The ferry was almost completely destroyed by the fire.
Johar Ali said some people on shore saw the fire rising from the ferry going through the middle of the river in the early hours of the morning and informed the fire brigade and police after they were informed.
Local television showed pictures of burnt motorcycles and burnt cabins inside the boat. When firefighters and Coast Guard divers searched the muddy river, there was a large crowd on shore.
Fifteen small and large rivers, including the Meghna River, the mouth of the Brahmaputra, the Bishkhali River, the Tetulia River, the Arpangasia River, the Balaswar River, and the Payra River. The coast of Bangladesh is formed by sediments.
Due to the fact that it is a coastal area where many rivers reach the sea, boats are the main source of transportation here. But there have been earlier reports that the vast majority of boat services require a fitness certificate.
Boat accidents are common in Bangladesh due to overcrowding and river flooding. There have been numerous reports in the past that half of all boat accidents in Bangladesh, with a population of 170 million, are due to repairs, inadequate safety standards at shipyards and congestion in vehicles, but there are persistent complaints that the problem is not being addressed.
Last August, 21 people were killed when a boat carrying passengers collided with a sand-laden cargo ship. In April and May, 54 people were killed in two separate accidents. In June last year, 32 people drowned after being hit by another ferry from behind in Dhaka.
In February 2015, a crowded ship collided with a cargo ship, killing 78 people. Bangladesh is at the forefront not only in water but also in coastal hazards. In July, a fire at a food and beverage factory in Rupganj, an industrial city outside Dhaka, killed at least 52 people.
In February 2019, at least 70 people were reported killed in a fire at an apartment in Dhaka where chemicals were illegally stored. Experts say population growth and security breaches are increasing the risk. Lack of state-of-the-art rescue facilities in the event of an accident is another reason for the rising death toll.
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