Probe body formed over 5 deaths at Sadarghat terminal

The government has formed a three-member committee to investigate the tragic deaths of five people in an accident at the Sadarghat Launch Terminal on Thursday.

The deceased came to the terminal to visit their village homes on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

The probe committee is headed by Director (Purchase and Stores) of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Md Rafiqul Islam. The two other members are Joint Director (Operations) Md Azgar Ali and Joint Director (Port) Md Kabir Hossain.

The BITWA has asked the committee to submit its report by five working days.

Several others were injured in the incident that occurred at pontoon-11 of the terminal around 3pm. The five, including a couple and their four-year-old child, died at Mitford Hospital. 

According to witnesses and River Police, passenger launches MV Pubali-1 and MV Tasrif-4 were tied to the pontoon with wire ropes. At one stage, the rope of MV Tasrif-4 broke into pieces and hit the passengers after another launch, MV Farhan-6, tried to anchor in between the two launches, said Fire Service Senior Officer Anwarul Islam Dolan.