Close call for 300 ferry passengers

Over 300 passengers of a ferry have narrowly escaped when the launch started sinking after a storm. Abul Kalam, the launch-master, told bdnews24.com the lower deck of the Coco-1 cracked when he drove it into a shoal at Muktarpur in the Dhaleshwari River during a storm late on Thursday night.

The passengers panicked when water gushed into the ferry through the crack after they resumed the journey from Sadarghat to Barisal around 10pm, he said.

Another passenger ferry, Coco-5, rescued the passengers around 1am on Friday, Kalam said.

“The crack has been blocked by pieces of cloth. We’ve pumped out the water. Not much water is coming through the crack now. The launch will be repaired after it is taken to the dock,” he added.

Munshiganj Sadar Police Station Officer in Charge Abul Bashar said police supervised the rescue.

bdnews24.com

Leave a Reply