At least 20 people drowned as a passenger-laden trawler sank after colliding with a sand-laden trawler in Brahmanbaria’s Bijoynagar upazila on Friday.
The incident took place at around 5:15pm at Laiska Beel in the upazila.
Fire Service and Civil Defense divers and locals are conducting rescue operations. Rescue workers are coming to the morgue of Brahmanbaria General Hospital with one body after another. They have so far recovered 20 bodies in the incident. According to locals, many casualties are being feared in the incident.
Crowds are rushing to the hospital to search for the relatives of the injured and the dead. So far eight bodies have been brought to the hospital. Six injured passengers are being rescued and treated.
Meanwhile, a body was forcibly taken from the hospital by the family members. The relatives of the deceased also clashed with the police at that time.
The administration has asked all not to create any chaotic environment over the incident. The police also said that the bodies would be handed over without an autopsy at the request of the families of the victims.
The district additional superintendent of police Abu Saeed Shamim said, “We are trying to keep the hospital environment calm. Relatives are being sought to identify the bodies.â€
Brahmanbaria Sadar Model Police Station officer-in-charge Mohammad Emranul Islam said, “The trawler with more than 100 passengers left Champaknagar Ghat at 4.30 pm for Anandabazar Ghat in Sadar upazila. There was a collision with a sand-laden trawler coming from the opposite direction in the Laisca Beel area and the passenger trawler sank.â€
Brahmanbaria Deputy Commissioner Hayat-ud-Daula Khan and Superintendent of Police Anisur Rahman rushed to the spot after the incident.
Among the bodies, 10 women and seven children have been identified, said the deputy commissioner.
He told reporters at the scene that the families of the victims would be paid Tk 20,000 each.
At the same time, a three-member investigation committee has been formed to find out the cause of the accident, added the DC.
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