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So far, 23 bodies have been recovered following an incident where a passenger bus submerged in the Padma River while attempting to board a pontoon at the Daulatdia ferry terminal area.
The submerged bus was retrieved from the water around 12:30 AM on Wednesday (March 25) using the rescue vessel ‘Hamza’. At that time, 17 bodies were recovered from inside the bus. Early Thursday morning, four more bodies were retrieved from the river. Additionally, locals had recovered two bodies at the time the bus initially submerged.
Among the deceased are 4 men, 11 women, and 8 children. According to relevant sources, all the victims have been identified, and 22 bodies have already been handed over to their respective families. The process of handing over the remaining one body is underway.
Dewan Sohel Rana, Assistant Deputy Director of Rajbari Fire Service, stated that the recovered bodies were temporarily kept at the Goalanda Upazila Health Complex.
It is noted that the ‘Souhardya Paribahan’ bus was carrying approximately 45 passengers. The bus lost control and plunged into the river while attempting to board the ferry. Upon receiving the news, a dive team from the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence launched a rescue operation and is continuing to search for missing passengers.
Since the incident, the atmosphere in the ferry terminal area has been heavy with the lamentations of the relatives of the missing. To maintain control of the situation, the District Police, Army, Naval Police, and Fire Service are working jointly. The Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, and senior officials from the Upazila administration are present at the scene.