Fire Service and Civil Defence divers and the police recovered five bodies after launch carrying at least 40 passengers capsized in the River Shitalakhya as a cargo vessel hit it near Al Aminnagar in Narayanganj on Sunday afternoon.
‘We could recover four bodies from the river until 5:00pm. Identities of the deceased could not be known immediately,’ said Narayanganj river police officer-in-charge Md Moniruzzaman.
He said that the launch had been carrying 40 to 50 passengers while it was hit by the cargo vessel.
Many of the passengers jumped into the river to save their lives, he said and added that they were yet to know about the number of the missing people.
The Munshiganj-bound launch capsized in the river after collision with cargo vessel MV City-9 at about 2:30 pm, according to fire service headquarters officials.
They said that three units were conducting rescue operation in the area.
On April 5, at least 34 people died as a launch, being hit by a Cargo vessel. capsized in the river.
