Cargo trawler collides with launch, sinks

A cargo trawler capsized after colliding with a Dhaka-bound launch in the river Kirtankhola in Barisal Sadar upazila this evening.

No reports of casualties or injuries were available immediately.

The launch with around 1,500 passengers on board anchored on a shoal as its deck got damaged in the collision, said KM Shahidullah, a port official.

MV Sundarban, one of the largest internal waterway vessels of the country, left Barisal launch terminal around 8:45pm, he told our Barisal correspondent.

Around 30 minutes after the departure, the launch hit an oil tanker at Beltola Point and the deck of the vessel was damaged, the official added.

The master of the launch decided to anchor MV Sundarban on an adjacent shoal for safety reasons, he said.