Abhijan-10 Launch Fire: Neglect of duty at every step
Three officials of the Shipping Department and BIWTA, four owners and four crew members of the MV Abhijan-10 are responsible for the fire on the vessel that killed 49, a probe committee has found.
The dock where the engines of the launch were replaced without approval are also liable, it found.
The seven-member committee formed by the shipping ministry after the incident has confirmed speculations that the engine being used was faulty and the fire originated from the engine room.
Committee chief Joint Secretary Tofayel Islam of the shipping ministry confirmed that the probe report was submitted to the ministry secretary last night.
The committee also made 25 recommendations that include fire safety inspections on vessels by the firefighters every three months, fire drills twice a year, and safety training to crew members, official sources said.
The fire broke out on the MV Abhijan-10 around 3:00 am on December 24. Several hundred people were on board the Barguna-bound launch on the Sugandha River in Jhalakathi at the time.
Rasel Sheikh, 38, who was among those injured in the fire, died yesterday at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, taking the toll from the tragedy to 49.
Of the 12 patients being treated at the institute, two are in the ICU, hospital officials said.
The probe report said the owners violated rules by mounting two more powerful and old engines in the launch, replacing the previous two without permission from the Shipping Department, sources said.
As per the rules, an inland marine engineer should have been on the launch, they said. But there was none. Thus, the four owners are responsible.
Owners of the vessel Hamjalal Sheikh, Shamim Ahmed, Rasel Ahmed are in police custody. Ferdous Hasan Rabbi, another owner, who is a minor, has not been detained, sources said.
The dock authorities are responsible for mounting old engines without taking prior approval from the authorities, they added.
Although the launch resumed operation after more than three months, the ship surveyor, inspectors of the Shipping Department and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority did not examine the launch properly, they said.
Mahbubur Rahman, surveyor of Shipping Department at Sadarghat, admitted to the committee that he did not look into whether the engines of the launch were changed and that he neglected his duties, source said.
The launch made its first trip after three months on December 19 and the second one on December 23. But, Shipping Department Inspector Habibur Rahman did not inspect the launch.
Habibur Rahman was held responsible for negligence in serving duties as he did not inspect the launch although it resumed operation after three months, they said.
The committee said Zainal Abedin, joint director of the BIWTA at Sadarghat, did not play due role because he did not inform the authorities concerned even after knowing that the launch resumed operation.
The probe body found that two drivers did not anchor the launch after it caught fire even though they had enough time. Had they anchored the launch and tried to douse the fire, the number of deaths might have been less. They rather abandoned the launch.
So the drivers Masum Billah, Abul Kalam and grizzers are responsible for the incident, they said.
The committee also held two masters Riaz Sikder and Khalilur responsible for the incident as they did not anchor the vessel even after failing to fix the problem in the engines.
All of them are in jail.
At least three cases have been filed over the incident.
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