Fog halts ferry, flight operations

Fog disrupted ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia naval route and flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for the third consecutive day yesterday, causing sufferings to thousands of passengers.

The ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route was suspended for six hours due to dense fog, reports our Manikganj correspondent. 

Manager (Commerce) of Daulatdia office of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Shafikul Islam said the authorities kept the service suspended from 1:40am to 7:40am as visibility was very low. 

During the time, eight ferries carrying at least 100 vehicles and several hundred passengers on board remained stuck in the middle of the Padma.

Besides, eight passenger vehicles also remained anchored at Paturia and Daulatdia ferry ghats for over seven hours. According to BIWTC officials, more than six hundred vehicles were stranded at the two ghats.

At Dhaka airport, all flight operations were halted for six hours for the third consecutive day.

"...we were forced to suspend flight operations due to dense fog from 3:30am to 9:30am," said SN Wahid Ur Rahman, deputy director of Station Air Traffic Control at the airport.

During the period, he said, a US-Bangla airlines flight from Singapore was diverted to Chittagong, while an Etihad cargo aircraft was sent back to Kolkata after it failed to land around 4:00am.

The domestic flight operations were resumed at 9:30am and international flights at 10:15am, he added. Besides, departing flights of Biman, Etihad and Saudi airlines were stuck at the airport till 10:30am.

Meanwhile, passengers alleged that the airport officials did not inform them about the change of the flight schedule.

As per weather forecast, moderate to thick fog may occur over the country in next two days.

On Wednesday, flight operations were suspended for nine hours due to dense fog, resulting in the delay of at least 30 international and domestic flights.