By Xinhua,
Dhaka : The death toll from Monday’s launch capsize in Bangladesh’s Kishoreganj district, 100 km northeast of capital Dhaka, has risen to 48 with the recovery of two more bodies on Thursday night, private news agency UNB reported Friday.
The passenger launch carrying over 150 passengers capsized Monday afternoon as it caught in storms, leaving dozens of people missing.
Soon after the mishap, local people recovered four bodies from the river on Monday evening.
Later, the rescue workers in a joint salvage operation pulled up 39 more bodies from the sunken launch on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 43. The workers found another three bodies on Wednesday.
The one-member committee headed by Kazi Saiful Islam has made its inquiry report public, saying that the capsize was mainly caused by overloading of passengers and goods on the launch.
Meanwhile, the district administration provided 4,000 taka (about 63 U.S. dollars) as grant to each of the 33 families of the capsized victims. Remaining families will also be provided with the money.
A police boat was patrolling the river looking for more bodies.