Launch capsize: 3 more bodies recovered

Three more bodies, including that of a toddler, were recovered yesterday, taking the death toll of Sunday's launch accident on the Shitalakkhya to 10.

The authorities suspended rescue operations in the evening, saying no one else was missing.

The three deceased are Arohi Barman Rajbongshi, 3, Abdullah Al Jaber, 30, and Muslem Uddin Hatem, 55, said Abdullah Al Arefin, deputy assistant director of local Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Firefighters recovered the floating body of Jaber near the 3rd Shitalakkhya bridge in Koylaghat area of Narayanganj Sadar upazila around 8:05am. He was a resident of the capital's Demra area.

Locals recovered the body of three-year-old Arohi, daughter of Joy Barman of Ispahairchar area of Munshiganj, from the bank of the river in Narayanganj's Bandar area around 10:30am.

Around 4:00pm, fire service members recovered the floating body of Hatem, a resident of Munshiganj's Jugnighat area, from the Shitalakkhya in Muktapur area of the district.

In the evening BM Qudrat E Khuda, Bandar upazila parishad executive officer, announced an end to the rescue operations.

However, fire service official Abdullah Al Arefin earlier told journalists that a woman on Monday filed a missing person report in Char Syedpur area in Narayanganj Sadar upazila -- the spot where passenger launch ML Afsar Uddin sank after it was hit by a large cargo vessel, MV Rupshi-9, the previous day.

As per the report, the missing person's name is Zobayer.

"But the woman nor anyone else related to the person came to the spot today [yesterday]. So, we are not sure whether the person is really missing," said Arefin.