A barge loaded with 340 tonnes of urea fertiliser capsized in the river Passur on Thursday night.
A tugboat, ML Rina, which was towing the fertiliser-laden barge from Karomjol mooring Bouya no 8 also capsized.
The fertiliser imported by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) from China was loaded in the barge, Rose-1, from ship MV Nirmal Bhusan bearing the flag of Panama.
Member (Operation) Lutfar Rahman of Mongla Port Authority (MPA) said the accident occurred at around 10:30pm as rope of the tugboat tore off. He said the fertiliser-laden barge was bound for BCIC warehouse in Khulna.
Eight crew of the barge and the tugboat were rescued by coastguards at 11:30pm, an hour after the accident.
The rescued crew are Mohammad Abuk Bakar Siddiq, 32, Mohammad Moshin Ali, 25, Mohammad Robel, 23, Mohammad Bakar Ali, 28, Mohammad Bakar Miah, 30, Mohmmmad Jewel, 19, Mohammad Kamal Hossain, 27, Mohammad Monir Hossain 20.
They were handed over to the authority of Mongla Port, a coast guard press release said.
Neither the sunken barge nor the tugboat could be salvaged until 4:00pm yesterday. The chairman of the MPA has been monitoring the salvage operation since Thursday midnight.
The port authority on Thursday night formed a one-member committee with Harbour Master Captain Shariful Islam to probe the accident. The committee has been asked to submit its report within the next 24 hours.
Sareng Nizamuddin of the barge lodged a general diary with Mongla Police Station at 3:00pm yesterday in connection with the accident.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Economy, Bangladesh News, Daily Bangladesh News, Economy, News
