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Death toll reaches 70

Sunken launch salvaged; search for the missing on

PANKAJ KARMAKAR andZAHANGIR Shah from Manikganj
The death toll in Sunday's launch disaster in the Padma in Manikganj rose to 70, and the ill-fated vessel, MV Mostafa, was salvaged yesterday.
At least five passengers remained missing, said officials at a temporary control room set up by Manikganj district administration near the scene.
The launch sank after being hit by cargo vessel Nargis-1 in mid-river.
The search for bodies would continue for the next one or two days, said officials concerned.
But the assurance did little to calm the grieving family members who were still looking for the bodies of their loved ones.
"My father is still missing. I want my father back. Who will return my father? Where should I go to complain?" cried Nayan whose father Sohrab Mia, a chef, was in the launch.
He spent the whole Sunday night on the bank of the Padma, hoping to get news about his father.
Like him, Tipu, who works at a private firm, stayed on the riverbank to know about the fate of his friend Mostafa Mehfuz Dana, a Brae official, who was on the launch.
"We didn’t see much activity from the rescuers after the launch was salvaged," he said.
Talking to The Daily Star, Manikganj Deputy Commissioner Rashida Ferdous said, "Our operation to salvage the vessel has ended. But fire service members will continue the search for bodies."
Shahdat Hossain, station officer of Manikganj Fire
Service, said, "Now we are not searching under water. Rather, we are looking for bodies on the surface of the water."
As MV Mostafa carrying around 200 passengers went down in the Padma around Sunday noon, more than a hundred passengers were either rescued or they swam ashore, said witnesses and locals.
Immediately after the accident, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, the navy, the fire service and the river police jointly launched a rescue operation.
In around 24 hours, divers recovered 70 bodies, including that of 14 children and 28 women. Sixty-nine bodies were handed over to their families, said officials at the temporary control room.
Rescue vessel Rustam reached the spot on Sunday night. It pulled out MV Mostafa around 5:00am and tugged the launch to the shore near Paturia ghat around 9:00am.
Within minutes, scores of people thronged there and tried to get close to the ill-fated launch, but they were barred by security personnel.
Divers said the launch went down around 20 feet in the river. At least 29 bodies were recovered from around the launch and inside it after Rustam started the salvage operation.
Harun-Ar-Rashid, assistant superintendent of police in Shibalaya circle, said a case would be filed against the two vessels' masters and their assistants for navigating recklessly.
Visiting the spot yesterday. Shipping Secretary Shafique Alam Mehdi said action would be taken against the persons responsible after investigation.
The district administration gave Tk 20,000 each to the families of 69 victims for burial after handing over the bodies to them.
The families would be given Tk 1.05 lakh each later in line with an announcement of the shipping minister, said officials of the ministry.
Several high-ups of the ministry and the Department of Shipping visited the spot yesterday.