United News of Bangladesh

The death toll from the boat capsize in the River Karatoa rose to 68 as 18 more bodies were fished out of the water in Boda upazila of Panchagarh Tuesday. Divers from three firefighting units recovered the 18 bodies from different spots of the river, Dipongkar Roy, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of the district administration, said. So far the deceased included 30 women, 21 children and 17 men while four others are still missing, ADC Dipongkar said while announcing the rescue operation was calling it a day for the third consecutive day on Tuesday night. Earlier 50 bodies were recovered on Sunday and Monday from different spots of the river.      Read: Trawler capsize in Panchagarh: 8 bodies recovered in Dinajpur Mentionable, the overloaded boat carrying mostly Hindu devotees sank in the middle of the river while heading towards Badheshwar Temple on the occasion of Mahalaya around 2:30pm on Sunday. Meanwhile, a five-member probe body, headed by Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Dipankar Roy, was formed to investigate the capsize, said Md Zahurul Islam, deputy commissioner of Panchagarh.   The committee was asked to submit its report within three working days.