10 dead as two trawlers collide in Gomai river
At least 10 people, all women and children, drowned in the Gomai river as a trawler capsized after being hit by a sand-laden vessel in Netrakona's Kalmakanda upazila yesterday.
Eight to 10 others are still missing, said Kalmakanda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sohel Rana.
The sand-laden vessel hit the trawler carrying 30 to 35 passengers in Rajnagor area around 9:30am, said Md Hadisuzzaman, chairman of Borokhapan union parishad.
The trawler was heading for Thakurakona ghat in Netrakona Sadar upazila from Madhyanagar of Sunamganj's Dharampasha upazila, he said.
UNO Sohel said 10 bodies were recovered and six people were fished out of water and given first aid.
Firefighters and locals searched for the missing until around 6:00pm.
The dead are: Lucky Akter, 30, her daughter Tumpa Akter, 4, and two-and-a-half-year-old son Jahid Hossain; Sultana Begum, 40, her grandson Al Mujahid, 3; Majida Begum, 50, and her grandson Anik Mia, 5; Lutfur Nahar, 25, and her two-year-old son Rakibul Hasan. They were from Dharampasha upazila, while another victim Hamida Begum, 50, was from Netrakona Sadar upazila.
The victims, except Hamida, were on their way to their relatives' houses in Netrakona's Barhatta upazila, said locals, adding that the incident was the worst of its kind in the area.
Abdul Wahab managed to swim ashore but his wife Lutfur Nahar and son Rakibul drowned. His five-year-old daughter Monira Akter was missing.
Wahab said when he was standing with Monira, their trawler overturned after being hit by a large vessel. His daughter, who had her arms around his neck, was washed away and he only heard her call "Baba" before that.
Wahab's cousin Mahbub Alam Monju said there were no safety gear for passengers in the trawler, typical of all trawlers in the area.
Mahbub, a trader, said Abdul Halim, a trawler owner of Madhyanagar ghat, rented the vessel. The trawler was not meant to carry passengers and that it usually carried paddy during the harvest seasons.
Monir Hossain, elder brother of deceased Lucky, said her sister along with three children was going to visit his other sister in Bausi of Netrakona.
But his sister and her two children left them forever, said a crying Monir.
Lucky's son Towfique, a sixth-grader, survived.
Quoting Towfique, he said after the collision, Towfique and five others got trapped inside the hull of the overturned vessel, which was still afloat. Hearing their screams, boatmen nearby rushed to the spot and rescued them cutting into the hull, said Monir.
He added that Lucky was the youngest among their seven siblings.
Deputy Commissioner of Netrakona Kazi Abdur Rahman and Superintendent of Police Akbar Ali Munshi visited the spot.
The victims' family members demanded proper investigation into the incident to bring the wrongdoers to book.
Police arrested five people of the sand-laden trawler in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Netrakona district administration formed a three-member committee to probe the incident and it has been asked to submit the report within seven days.
The district administration gave Tk 10,000 to each family of the nine victims, while victim Hamida's family was given Tk 20,000.
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