A massive fire swept through a crowded river ferry in Bangladesh early Friday, leaving at least 39 people dead and 70 injured, officials said. Many passengers leapt from vessel into cold waters to escape blaze. It took 15 fire engines two hours to control fire and another eight to cool down vessel, according to fire officer Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan, who led rescue operation.
Afterward, the blackened hull of ferry sat anchored at river’s edge. Many anxious relatives gathered on banks, while divers continued to search waters. The blaze broke out around 3 am on MV Avijan-10, which was carrying 800 passengers, many of whom were traveling to visit family and friends for weekend, officials said.
“I was sleeping ondeck and woke up hearing screams and a loud noise,” survivor Anisur Rahman told reporters, adding that he saw smoke coming from back of ferry. “I jumped into freezing water of river in thick fog, like many other passengers, and swam to riverbank.” Police officer Moinul Haque said rescuers recovered 37 bodies from river, while two people died from burn injures on way to hospital. All of 70 injured were hospitalized, including some with severe burns. Ferries are a leading means of transportation in Bangladesh, which is crisscrossed by about 130 rivers, and accidents involving the vessels are common, often blamed on overcrowding or lax safety rules. The ferry was traveling from Dhaka, the capital, to Barguna, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) to south. It caught fire off coast of Jhalokati district on Sugandha River, toward end of journey.
Bhuiyan said fire may have started in engine room. The government set up two committees to probeb blaze and ordered them to report their findings in three days.In April, 25 people died after a ferry collided with another vessel and capsized outside Dhaka.
