Pinak-6 probe team gets 7 more days

The team investigating the recent launch accident at Mawa in Munshiganj, in which over a hundred people are presumed to have died, has got seven more working days to submit its report to the shipping ministry, after the earlier deadline expired yesterday.
"We sought an extension because we could not complete our work. We need to take depositions of some more people," the probe body's member secretary, Jasim Uddin Sarker, told The Daily Star.
"Specially, we could not talk to the launch owner, who is in jail now. We have to take his testimony," said Jasim, also the chief nautical surveyor at the Department of Shipping.
The Pinak-6 vessel sank in the turbulent Padma on August 4, while carrying over 200 people against a capacity of 85. Forty-eight bodies were recovered, and 62 remain missing, said police.
On the same day, the shipping ministry formed a seven-member probe committee, headed by Nur-ur-Rahman, the ministry's joint secretary, and asked for a report within 10 working days. The team has talked to over 20 people, including witnesses, survivors and terminal officials.
A member of the probe team told The Daily Star that most interviewees said the vessel was overloaded, and the situation worsened due to bad weather and strong currents. The committee, however, has not come to a conclusion because it needs to do more work, he said.
The government gave up on the sunken vessel on August 11, after an eight-day search.