Only survey vessels to continue search
District authorities of Munshiganj today declared withdrawal of Bangladesh Navy, Coast Guard, BIWTA and Fire Service from sunken launch Pinak-6 rescue operation.
Survey vessels of Chittagong Port Authority, Kandari-2 and Jarip-10, will only stay in action along with rescue vessels Rustom and Nirvik standing by for possible salvaging, said Saiful Hasan Badal, deputy commissioner of the district, during a press briefing this afternoon.
The rescue divers’ teams however will remain stand by for the salvage operation, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.
The death tolls from the launch capsize incident remains 46 as no bodies were recovered since this morning.
The number of missing passengers remained 122.
Meanwhile, strong current in the Padma River hampered the rescue divers’ attempt to go near "a metallic object" which they found on their echo sounder yesterday while searching for the sunken launch Pinak-6.
The divers till this morning were trying to hook an anchor to the object so that they could go nearby to check on it from closer range, reports our Munshiganj correspondent quoting Capt Manjurul Karim Chowdhury, skipper of survey vessel Kandari-2.
“Strong current is not allowing us to hook the anchor with a line, so still we are unable to reach the object for further inspection,” the official added.
The object, resembled with the sunken launch Pinak-6 by its length and width, was spotted yesterday in Padma, a kilometre away from the Mawa launch ghat in Munshiganj, where Pinak-6 sunk on Monday.
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