8 die as picnic trawler capsizes in Munshiganj

At least eight people died and six others remained missing as a picnic trawler carrying 46 people capsized in a tributary of the Padma river after a collision with a bulkhead in Munshiganj on Saturday night. 

The incident took place around 8:30pm when a sand-laden bulkhead hit the engine-run trawler at Rashkathi village under Eider Para union in Louhajang upazila of the district.

Rafi Al Faruq, Duty Officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence, confirmed the matter to Jago News. 

He said 46 passengers were on the trawler when it sank. Of them, 32 people including women and children were rescued alive.  

Police and fire service sources said the trawler was going to Sirajdikhan upazila from Mawa point of the Padma river. When the trawler reached Rashkathi area, it sank after being hit by the bulkhead. Some of the passengers reached ashore by swimming and others went missing. On information, fire service members rushed to the spot and conducted rescue operation.