Death toll from Sunamganj boat capsize rises to 10

Death toll from the last night’s boat capsize in Derai upazila of Sunamganj has risen to 10 as rescuers recovered six more bodies from the waterbodies this morning.

Seven of the victims were children while the rest three were women, our Sylhet correspondent reports quoting KM Nazrul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Derai Police Station.

The bodies which were recovered today have been identified as Tasmina, 11, hailing from Matshingpur village; Azirunnesa, 30, wife of Abjol Mia of Noar Char village and their son Asad, 5; Shanta, 3, daughter of Jasad Ali; and Roitunnesa, 35, wife of Aroj Ali from Machimpur village; and Karima Begua, 62, of Perua village in the upazila, the OC confirmed.

The bodies were handed the bodies over to their family members, he added.

“We have concluded our rescue operation as we already recovered 10 bodies and also rescued the rest of the passengers, the OC said.

The boat started its journey from Machimpur village yesterday evening with around 31 passengers on board.

At around 8:00pm, the boat was hit by storm and capsized at Kaliakuta haor within few minutes, said Liton Shamanta, a local fisherman and eye-witness told The Daily Star yesterday.

Soon after the accident, bodies of four children were also recovered. Among them, one-year-old Sohan Mia was another son of Abjol Mia.

Derai Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Bishwajit Dev said they initially decided to give Tk 10,000 for each of the victims.