Ferries continue to crash into the under-construction Padma Bridge. In the latest accident, a ferry, Birshreshtha Jahangir, hit the span between the second and third pillars of the bridge in Louhaganj on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, there were no passengers on the vessel. Read: 20 hurt as ferry hits Padma bridge pillar In fact, this is the same ferry that hit pier 10 of Padma Bridge on August 9, injuring five passengers and causing damage to three vehicles it was carrying. The ferry was heading to Paturia on Tuesday after repairs at Simulia Ghat when the accident occurred. The ferry’s mast was broken following the latest collision, our correspondent reports. Span is the distance between two intermediate supports for a structure. A mast, on the other hand, is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre line of a vessel. Syed Tajul Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), told UNB that the mast on the top of the ferry collided with the span between pillars 2 and 3 of Padma Bridge and broke. However, it is unclear whether Padma Bridge has suffered any damages. Read: Munshiganj: Another ferry hits Padma bridge pier - "The accident occurred because of the negligence of the master of the ferry. The mast was supposed to be lowered before crossing the bridge. Without doing so, the mast broke after hitting the span of the bridge," the chairman said. “It's a small matter. But we will still investigate it thoroughly,” he added. On July 20 and 23 also, the 16th and 17th pillars of Padma Bridge were hit by ferries. There have been five more cases of ferries hitting the pillars of the bridge this year. General diaries have been filed, inquiry panels have been formed and ferry drivers suspended over these accidents. It may be mentioned here that authorities have suspended ferry services on the Shimulia-Banglabazar route since August 18 to avoid such accidents.

A four-member committee has been formed by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) to investigate the collision of the Shahjalal ferry with a pillar of the under-construction Padma Bridge. The committee has been asked to submit a report to the BIWTC chairman within three days. BIWTC issued an order in this regard Friday. BIWTC Director (Commerce) SM Ashiquzzaman was made the convener of the committee. Other members of the committee were BIWTA Director (Shipping) M Shahjahan, BIWTC AGM (Marine) Ahmed Ali and AGM (Engineering) Rubeluzzaman. Read: 20 hurt as ferry hits Padma bridge pillar Meanwhile, inland master officer Abdur Rahman, in-charge of the Shahjalal, was suspended for failing to operate properly. Earlier on Friday morning, Shahjalal, a Ro-Ro ferry that operates on the Shimulia-Banglabazar (Madaripur) route, crashed into the pillar near the Mawa area of Munshiganj at around 9am, causing injury to 20 people.