A lighter ship laden with imported steel scraps sunk in the Bay of Bengal off Patenga coast in Chattogram on Thursday. Th MV Titu-7 of Abul Khair Group sank around 12pm, said the crews of the ship. Thirteen crews on board the vessel were immediately rescued by another fishing boat nearby. The ship was heading toward Bangla Bazar ghat in Karanphuli River with imported steel scraps from the mother vessel standing at the outer anchorage, said Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Shipping Workers Federation Khorshed Alam. Read: Cargo ship with Padma Bridge construction materials sinks in Hatiya The exact reason for the accident couldn’t be identified yet, he said Vice president of Lighter Workers Union Nabi Alam said around noon bottom of the barge cracked and water started gushing inside. Chattogram port authority has been informed of the incident, he said. The port authority said vessel movement in the port channel has remained normal and no disruption happened due to the accident.

The ethnic Tripura community of Sonaichhari in Sitakunda upazila, Chattogram are in constant fear as some local influential people have allegedly been trying to evict them from their century-old land. Tripuras live in different areas of Bangladesh, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas of Chittagong, Bilonia upazila of Noakhali district, and Cumilla, Chandpur, Moulavibazar, Srimangol, Rajbari and in Faridpur and Dhaka districts. The indigenous inhabitants of Tripura Para at Sonaichhari alleged that Abul Khayer Group, a Chattogram-based business conglomerate, is trying to grab their land illegally.  Read: Army delivers relief to ethnic minority groups in Bandarban The Tripura community members are passing their days in fear of eviction from their 150-year-old land as the influential people of Abul Khayer Group have long been asking them to leave the place. They are receiving threats from some local influential people backed by Abul Khayer Group and land grabbers, they alleged. The land grabbers are now engaged in fencing the whole Tripura Para hill, said the residents.