Chandpur Correspondent: Two luxury passenger launches on the Dhaka-Barisal river route collided in the Meghna. Although the front parts of the two launches were severely damaged, no passenger casualties were reported.
On Sunday (December 22), at 11 am, Sub-Inspector (SI) of the Chandpur Police Superintendent’s Office, Sheikh Abdur Sabur, confirmed the matter to the media.
Eyewitnesses said that due to dense fog, the Prince Awlad-10 launch of Barisal, which left Dhaka at 2 am, and the MV Kirtankhola-10 launch, which left Barisal, collided in the middle of the Meghna River. As a result, the fender of the Kirtankhola-10 launch broke off in the collision with the Prince Awlad-10 and fell into the river. The passengers were terrified by the accident.
A passenger named Iqbal of the Kirtankhola-10 launch said that the Prince Awlad-10 launch suffered more damage than the Kirtankhola-10 launch in the midnight accident. Its bottom cracked in the middle. Therefore, the launch was anchored in a char in the middle of the river. However, the Shuvraj-9 launch arrived from Dhaka that night and left for Barisal with the passengers of the Prince Awlad-10. Since the Kirtankhola-10 was not damaged much, it reached Dhaka at a slow speed.
TI Samar Krishna of the Chandpur launch ghat said that the two launches collided while crossing the Meghna River near Harinaghat in Chandpur Sadar. There were 580 passengers on the Prince Awlad launch. Another launch came and took them to their destination.
SI Sheikh Abdur Sabur said that although the incident took place on the Meghna River in Chandpur, we are not yet sure where exactly. A call came to 999 from a passenger of the Kirtankhola launch. They reported a collision with the Awlad-10 launch. We have spoken to the masters of the launches. There were no injuries or deaths in the incident, and there were no major problems. The launches have now left for their respective destinations.
