United News of Bangladesh

Police on Saturday recovered the bodies of a couple who drowned in the Padma River after the boat they were on sank on Friday. The deceased were identified as Hridoy Pramanik, 23, and his wife, Mou Akhter, 19, said Abdul Alim, in-charge of Sujanagar Fire Service. The accident occurred on Friday afternoon when the boat they were travelling in capsized while crossing the river. After being informed, rescue teams from the Sujanagar Fire Service, a diving team from Rajshahi, and the Nazirganj River Police Outpost launched an operation, said the fire official. Eid holidaymakers start returning to Dhaka via Paturia ferry ghat Despite their efforts, the couple was not found on Friday. The search resumed on Saturday morning, and their bodies were recovered around 10 am, he said. According to police and local sources, the incident occurred when a group of 20 to 25 people, including the couple, boarded a shallow-engine-powered boat for a trip across the Padma River near Kanchan Park in Satbaria, Sujanagar upazila. While most of the passengers were able to swim to safety with the help of locals, the couple went missing in the river.

One person died, and two others went missing after a boat carrying 40 labourers sank in the Jamuna River at Kulakandi in Islampur upazila of Jamalpur on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Bilal Mondol, 45, son of Shamsul Mondol from Kulakandi Madhyapara village in Islampur upazila. Islampur Fire Service Station Officer Mazharul Islam said the rescue operation for the two missing workers was still underway. However, it will be suspended in the evening if they are not found. The missing individuals were identified as Selim, 35, and Khabir Ali, 35, both residents of Kulakandi Madhyapara village in Islampur upazila. Child marriage stopped by administration in Manikganj According to police, fire service personnel, and eyewitnesses, the accident occurred when a boat carrying 40 to 45 labourers departed from Kulakandi Ferry Ghat for Char Kulakandi in the Jamuna River. The boat capsized in the middle of the river, submerging several passengers. While most managed to swim ashore, three individuals went missing. Upon receiving information, a diving team from Jamalpur Fire Service launched a rescue operation and recovered one body after nearly three hours of effort. Islampur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Saifullah Saif said they were monitoring the situation.

Rescuers were searching on Tuesday for 13 passengers from a boat that sank in bad weather and high waves while traveling between Indonesian islands. The boat, carrying 77 passengers and crew, sank Monday night in waters around Tokaka Island in North Maluku province in east-central Indonesia. Sixty-four survivors have been found, said Fathur Rahman, head of the local search and rescue agency. They were able to swim to the coast to survive. Rubber boats, speedboats and a local longboat were being used in the search for the others. Read:19 women drowned as boat capsizes in Pakistan's Indus River: media The KM Cahaya Arafah had left the seaport on Ternate Island on Monday morning and was heading to West Gane subdistrict in South Halmahera district. Ferry and boat tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where ferries are often used as transport and safety regulations can lapse. In 2018, an overcrowded ferry with about 200 people on board sank in a deep volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra province, killing 167 people. In one of the country’s worst recorded disasters, an overcrowded passenger ship sank in February 1999 with 332 people aboard. There were only 20 survivors.

At least 43 migrants, including Bangladeshis, are missing while 84 were rescued after a boat heading towards Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia on Saturday, the Tunisian Red Crescent said. Mongi Slim, head of the organisation, told The Associated Press that the boat, which was carrying 127 migrants, left Libya's coastal city of Zuwara on Friday to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards Italy. He said 46 Sudanese, 16 Eritreans and 12 Bangladeshis were among the migrants. Also read: Speedboat sinks in Padma, 26 dead The defence ministry's spokesperson, Mohamed Zekri, said the 84 migrants were rescued by fishermen. He declined to confirm the drowning of the other migrants. Libya is a frequent departure point for migrants making the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing. Several shipwrecks from smugglers' boats carrying migrants have occurred in recent weeks, as attempts to reach Europe become more frequent amid warmer summer weather. Last week, Tunisian coast guards found seven bodies on the beaches of Djerba, an island off the southern coast. They were buried at the cemetery for migrants in Zarzis, Tunisia, who perished in the Mediterranean Sea. Also read: 20 migrants dead off Tunisia after boat sinks, more missing The head of the Red Crescent, meanwhile, launched an urgent call about the fate of hundreds of migrants who escaped death as his organisation has no means to provide housing. "The three centres in Zarzis are full and cannot shelter more people. We also have 380 other migrants in confinement in Djerba with nowhere to go," Slim said.

A boat carrying migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan  and Afghanistan has sunk in Lake Van in eastern Turkey, with at least seven people dead, officials say, reports BBC.