27 more bodies found in Meghna
With the recovery of 27 more bodies yesterday, the death toll in Tuesday's launch capsize in the river Meghna rose to 139.
Three days after the tragedy at Gazaria in Munshiganj, relatives were still looking for their loved ones lost in the mishap.
On Wednesday night, Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Azizul Alam said 16 people were missing but survivors and relatives said around 100 people were unaccounted for.
Contacted, the DC yesterday did not give any number of the missing people, but said the rescue efforts would continue today.
Shahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Gazaria Police Station, said five people were still missing as per their list.
But Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told reporters yesterday that he had no information of anyone still missing.
MV Shariatpur-1, on its way to Dhaka from Shariatpur, sank with around 300 passengers around 2:30am on Tuesday after being hit by a large cargo vessel, according to survivors.
M Mahbubul Alam, secretary of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), yesterday said they were yet to trace the cargo vessel.
Meanwhile, Gazaria police yesterday filed a case against seven people, including the owner and master of the passenger launch and the master of the cargo vessel that hit it.
The accused persons face charges of overloading and reckless driving and thereby killing people.
Of the 27 bodies recovered yesterday, 24 were found floating around the accident scene, two near Matlab Uttar upazila of Chandpur, which is around 10-km from the spot, while the other from the deck of MV Shariatpur-1.
Earlier, 76 bodies were recovered on Wednesday and 36 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, survivors and relatives of the missing people expressed frustration over the slow rescue operation. Some said they had "no trust" in the official figure of the missing people.
Many were seen searching for bodies of their relatives on trawlers.
Salvage vessels Rustom and Hamza pulled up the sunken launch from the riverbed on Wednesday afternoon.
The launch was handed over to Gazaria police yesterday after rescuers declared there were no more bodies in it.
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