Launch Capsize: Moyur-2 owner, 6 others sued 2 more bodies recovered from wreck

Seven people, including the owner of Moyur-2 which hit and sank another launch in the Buriganga on Monday, were charged with negligence causing deaths.

Meanwhile, rescuers recovered two more bodies yesterday after they salvaged the sunken boat Morning Bird nearly 26 hours after capsize, using the manual airlifting method.

The death toll rose to 34.

One body was recovered from the Engine room of the launch while another floated to the surface itself.

The seven accused are launch owner Mosaddek Hanif Swad, 33, his employee Abul Bashar Molla, 65, launch master Jakir Hossain, 54, engine driver Shipon Hawlader, 45, Shakil Hasan, 28, Sukani Nasir Mridha, 40, and Ridoy, 24.

Police could not arrest anyone of them.

Faridul Islam, superintendent of River Police in Dhaka said they carried out drives at their houses and possible places but the accused went into hiding.

Shamsul Alam, sub-inspector (SI) of Sadarghat River Police Station, filed the case early yesterday with Keraniganj Dakshin Police Station.

River police is investigating the case.

The accused were charged for negligence that caused deaths of the people and some other offences under section 280, 304A, 437 and 34 of Penal code.

"The drive is on to arrest the accused," the SI said.

A novice was allegedly at the helm of Moyur-2 when the vessel slammed into Morning Bird -- causing it to sink in the Buriganga at the capital's Shyambazar Monday.

A pall of gloom descended on different villages in Munshiganj as 30 of the victims were from the district.

In a briefing, Commodore Golam Sadeq, chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), said the route permit of Moyur-2 was cancelled.

Meanwhile, the probe committees of BIWTA and the ministry of shipping yesterday visited the spot and talked to the victims and witnesses.

"We have tried to summon the owner and staffers of both launches, but could not reach them over phone," said a member of the BIWTA committee.

The committee members collected footage of the incident from a nearby dockyard.

BIWTA called off the rescue operations at 3:30pm yesterday.

Fire officials, however, were continuing patrols to look for bodies, said Ershad Hossain, a duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters.