 on Friday in the engine room of the Barguna-bound MV Abhijan-10 launch that started a journey){kind=link}
At least 36 people were killed and hundreds injured after a ferry caught fire in southern Bangladesh on Friday, officials said. The incident took place early in the morning on the Sugandha River near the rural town of Jhakakathi, around 250 kilometres away from Dhaka.
The fire broke out around 3:00 am (local time) on Friday in the engine room of the Barguna-bound MV Abhijan-10 launch that started a journey from Dhaka.
“The three-story Obsidian 10 caught fire mid-river. We have recovered 32 bodies. The death count may rise. Most died from the fire and a few by drowning after they jumped into the river,” local police chief Moinul Islam told AFP news agency. “We have sent some 100 people with burn injuries to the hospitals in Barisal,” he said.
The vessel was carrying a total of 500 people, officials said. The fire also left over 200 others with burn injuries. They are currently undergoing treatment at local hospitals, the report quoted the launch administration, police and fire service personnel as saying.
This is the latest in a string of maritime tragedies to hit the low-lying nation in recent years. In July, 52 people died after a fire broke out in a food and beverage factory in the industrial town of Rupganj. More than 20 people were killed in a similar incident in August, when a boat and a sand-laden cargo ship collided in a lake in eastern Bangladesh.