Koko-4 Capsize in 2009: 9 staffers jailed for four years

In a rare verdict, the Marine Court in Dhaka yesterday punished a launch company and nine of its staff as it found them guilty of causing MV Koko-4 to capsize that left 81 people killed and many more missing in November 2009.

Judge Begum Shammi Hasina Parvin handed down four-year jail term to the staff of the launch and asked its owning company MS Rahman Shipyard BD Limited to pay Tk 4.8 lakh in compensation to the victims' families, a defence lawyer said.

The convicts have to pay Tk 5,000 fine each. And if they fail to pay the fine, they have to serve three more months in jail, defence lawyer Jahangir Hossain told The Daily Star.

BNP chairperson's elder son Tarique Rahman was the first owner of the launch. Then the ownership was handed over to his friend Giasuddin Al Mamun. In absence of Mamun, his brother-in-law Fazlur Rahman alias Bachchu Mollah was running the operation when the launch capsized.

Of the convicts, eight were present at the court during the delivery of the judgment. The court scrapped their bail and sent them to jail.

They are Master Shamsul Haque, drivers Masud Ahmed and Sajal Arefin Khan, Sukani Abul Kalam and Abdul Aziz, clerks Kerani Titu Mia and Shamim and inspector Md Uzzwal.

Another convict Shahidul Islam Bhuiyan, second master of the launch, died in 2015. However, the defence could not provide any documentary evidence of his death.

“We tried to collect his death certificate but his family members did not cooperate with us,” Jahangir said.

The court found the convicts guilty under the Inland Shipping Ordinance-1976, he said.

The verdict was pronounced for shipping casualty defined in the act as loss of life or injury to any person, or damage to any property, on board, and such casualty occurred due to the fault of the inland ship or due to the incompetence or misconduct of the owner, master or any officer or other member of the crew or contravention of the law by them.

MV Koko-4 capsized near Nazirpur launch terminal in Lalmohon with around 2,000 passengers on board on November 27, 2009.

To collect ticket money, the launch authorities stopped the vessel around 20 yards off the bank and tried to offload passengers with the help of a wooden plank. They even locked the collapsible gate and kept open only one exit. Soon, the passengers became panicked and gathered on one side of the launch, which led it to capsize.

Two days later, a seven-member body was formed and it submitted a probe report in December that year.

In 2011, the Department of Shipping filed a case with the Marine Court against the nine staff, Jahangir said.

Now, the accused can appeal against the judgment with the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court in Dhaka.

With many inland waterways and slack safety standards, the country sees launch disasters on a regular basis, with death tolls sometimes hitting hundreds. But incidents of punishing people responsible for disasters are rare.

"This is a very rare verdict. In most of the cases, people responsible for disasters go unpunished due to poor performance of prosecution lawyers," said Ashis Kumar Dey, general secretary of the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Road and Railway.

Jasim Ahmed, brother of a victim who had been going home for the first time after marriage at the time of the incident, told BBC Bangla Service, "I have heard that the accused got punishment, but the punishment is not adequate. We have lost our dear ones. We know how it feels.”