Ferry fire leaves nearly 36 dead, 200 injured in Bangladesh

TIL Desk/World/Dhaka/ At least 36 people died and nearly 200 others were injured on Friday after a packed three-storey ferry carrying around 500 passengers caught fire on the Sugandha river in southern Bangladesh, officials said, in the latest maritime tragedy to hit the delta nation criss-crossed by rivers.

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 authorities recovered the burnt bodies of at least 36 people after a fire broke out on a passenger launch on the Sugandha River in Jhalakathi, 250 km South of the capital Dhaka,” The fire also left over 200 others with burns.

 They are currently undergoing treatment at local hospitals, the report quoted the launch administration, police and fire service personnel as saying. The death toll is likely to rise as more passengers have been injured. Rescuers have recovered 36 bodies so far from the charred launch, Jhalakathi deputy commissioner Zohor Ali said. As many as 72 people have been hospitalised with injuries, according to the fire service control room