image source, Mir Samsuzzaman Sourav
Almost four and a half hours have passed, but the passenger bus that sank in the Padma is still not visible.
Today around 5:30 pm, a passenger bus of Souhardya Paribahan lost control and fell into the Padma river at Daulatdia Ferry Ghat of Golanda Upazila of Rajbari.
Rajbari district SP Mohammad Manzoor Morshed told the BBC, “The location of the bus has been identified. The top part of the bus is under 50 feet of water now. The bottom part is another 10 feet below.
“A rope has been attached to one side of the bus. Attempts are being made to attach a rope to the other side. After that the bus will be pulled out. Now the weather is bad here, so the rescue work is getting difficult,” he added.
Manzoor Morshed also said that 6-7 people had swum across when the bus sank. They are believed to have survived. However, four more people were rescued at that time. When the rescued people were taken to the hospital, two of them died in the hospital. Another is under treatment. All three of them are women.
He also confirmed that another person left with the rescued first aid.
Meanwhile, Daulatdia Ferry Wharf supervisor responsible for transportation. Monir Hossain told BBC Bangla that there were about 50 passengers including women and children in the sunken bus.
When asked what happened in the afternoon, he said that the bus was going to Dhaka from Kumarkhali. The bus was waiting for the ferry at ghat number three. But around 5:00 a utility (small) ferry named ‘Hasna Hena’ came and hit the pontoon with a loud bang. At that time, the bus lost control and fell into the Padma river.
It should be noted that around 10:15 tonight, Fire Service media cell duty officer Rakibul Hasan told BBC Bangla that two fire service diving units from Faridpur and Aricha are carrying out rescue work and two more diving units from Dhaka’s Siddikbazar are heading towards Daulatdia Ferry Ghat.
