Five missing as boat capsizes in Padma river

Five people have gone missing after a boat capsized in the Padma river near Satankhali ghat under Sadarpur upazila in Faridpur today.

An-engine-run boat carrying around 26 labourers capsized in the river around 7:30am, our local correspondent reports quoting Sadarpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Purabi Golder.

Twenty-one of those aboard managed to swim ashore, while five remain missing, the UNO said.

The missing are: Md Shahabur (35), Shelon Mia (38), and Abdur Razzak (40) from Chuadanga district, and Md Sahid (16) and Rubel Hossain (27), from Bacher Khan Dangi village in Sadarpur upazila.

Md Amzad Ali, a survivor, said, "One Lalan Fakir of Kazikanda village hired 26 labourers to harvest nut from Charnasirpur area. All of them boarded the boat to go there but it sank in the middle of the Padma River amid heavy current."

The boat was a small engine-run fishing boat and its capacity was to carry 10-12 people, UNO Purabi said, adding that it was running beyond capacity.

Fighters from Sadarpur fire service office began a recuse operation, she informed.

Syed Lutfar Rahman, officer in-charge of Sadarpur Police Station, said, "We have detained Lalan Fakir for interrogation."