With 26 more bodies recovered yesterday, the death toll from Sunday's deadly boat capsize in Panchagarh rose to 50, and rescuers fear the number may increase as over 30 persons were still missing.
The air was heavy with grief as relatives of the missing crowded the bank of the Karatoa river.
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Dipankar Roy, additional deputy commissioner and also convener of the probe body formed by the district administration, confirmed the death toll from the control room at Mareya union parishad.
There were 25 women and 13 children among the victims, most of whom were going to the Bodeshwari Temple to celebrate Mahalaya.
The bodies were recovered from the river at different places of Boda and Debiganj upazilas in Panchagarh, and Dinajpur's Birganj and Khansama upazilas as the current carried bodies 25 kilometres from the site of the capsize spot in Mareya union's Awalia ghat in Boda.
Abdul Lotif, a local in Khansama upazila, said he saw floating bodies after the tragedy in Panchagarh. Divers from Rajshahi, Rangpur and Kurigram were conducting rescue operations at different places stretching from the Awalia ghat to Khansama as over 30 are still reportedly missing.
Raghunath Chandra Roy of Boda upazila said his sister-in-law and 12-year-old nephew remain missing since the boat capsize. "We had been searching for them since the incident on Sunday," he said.
Getting information of body recovery in Basulia village in Khansama, he along with his relatives came there and found the body of his sister-in-law but not the 12-year-old child.
On Sunday afternoon, the boat carrying more than 100 people, most of them Hindu devotees going to the Bodeshwari temple for Mahalaya, capsized. Witnesses and survivors said on the day that the boat had the capacity to carry 50 people.
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES FAIL TO SAVE DEVOTEES
Dipak Kumar Barman, 35, of Sakoya Bazar who came to find his mother, said the death toll could have been less if firefighters took immediate steps following the boat capsize.
Al Amin, a survivor, said the boat was overloaded and it capsized within a few minutes of its journey.
Mareya Union Parishad Chairman Abu Ansar Md Razaul Karim Shamim, who was present at the spot during the incident, told The Daily Star that police and firefighters were present there from morning.
When the weather became clearer at noon the devotees started rushing to the ghat to cross the river and attend the religious occasion, which is held six days before the Durga Puja.
In their eagerness to reach the temple before the ceremonies ended, they boarded the boat surpassing capacity.
Asked why firefighters allowed people to board the boat beyond its capacity, Md Shahjahan, the team leader of the firefighting unit present there at the time, said the devotees did not obey their repeated requests.
Refuting the allegation that they did not act quickly enough following the incident, Shajahan said they tried their best to save people even though there were not enough firefighters, considering the scale of the operation.
Replying to a query, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Solaiman Ali said they did not think such an incident would happen, but police and firefighters were deployed to avert incident.
Sujeo Kumar Roy, officer-in-charge of Boda Police Station, said they had taken measures to avoid untoward incidents, but luck was against them.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan visited the spot yesterday afternoon and said the family of each victim would get Tk 25,000.
The probe committee headed by ADC Dipankar Kumar Roy, which was asked to submit a report by Wednesday, is taking statements from different groups of people including local public representatives, police and firefighters.
The victims rescued yesterday are: Brizendranath, 55, Kabita Rani, 50, Suchitra Rani, 22, Dipu Babu, 10, Jharna Bala, 50, Bejobala, 50, Dipshikha Rani, 10, Jogodish Chandra, 60, Subrata, 2, Joty Mitra Roy, 15, Genda Rani, 50, Konika Rani, 40, Sumitra Rani, 45, Adori Rani Rani, 50, Pushpa Rani, 50, Protima Rani, 50, Surjonath Barman, 12, Harikishore Roy, 45, Nikhil Chandra Barman, 60, Sushil Chandra, 65, Juthi Rani, 1, Rajmohon Adikari, 65, Rupali Rani Roy, 38, Pradeep Roy, 30, Parul Rani, 32, and Pratima Rani Roy, 39.