Although a year has passed since the Barguna launch fire tragedy, families still mourn their missing loved ones.   A devastating fire broke out at Barguna-bound launch ‘MV-Avijan-10’ on December 24 last year. The launch, with 800 passengers on board, was heading towards Barguna and the fire broke out on Sugandha river in Jhalakathi.   Forty-nine people died in the tragedy while the exact numbers of passengers traveling on the launch and the missing passengers are yet to be known. One hundred people were injured in the incident.    Many did not get any compensation for what they lost during the fire. Besides, families of missing passengers say no financial assistance has been provided to them.   After the fire, the local administration of Barguna district handed over 25 bodies to their relatives while 23 people were buried in a mass graveyard in the district.   Khalil, along with his wife and three children, was heading towards Barguna by the launch. Khalil and his wife managed to survive but they still mourn their three missing children.   Meanwhile, Golam Mahbub’s offspring and elderly mother are inconsolable after losing him and his brother during the launch fire.   Criminal Investigation Department (CID) collected samples of 51 people for identifying the 23 unclaimed bodies that were buried in Potkakhali mass graveyard in the Sadar upazila of Barguna district. Sixteen eople have been identified through DNA test.   A case with Barguna Chief Judicial Magistrate Court against the owner of MV Avijan-10, Hamjalal Sheikh, and 24 others in connection with the deadly fire on the launch has been lodged, said Shahidul Islam Milon, inspector (Investigation) of Barguna police station.  

The death toll from the massive fire that broke out from the engine room of the launch in the middle of the Sugandha River off the coast of Jhalakathi Sadar Upazila rose to 41, after another body was recovered on Saturday morning. Fire Service members recovered the body about one kilometer away from where the accident took place. The victim was identified as Monwar Begum (55) hailing from Bishurbandho village in Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. Read: Launch fire tragedy: Probe body visits spot Her husband Billal Hossain,60, and daughter Amena Akhter , 14, were burnt in the accident and are undergoing treatment at Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Hospital.

The deadly fire on Avijan-10 running from Dhaka to Barguna on Friday was caused by an explosion, the owner said denying mechabical faults. The launch caught fire after in the middle of the Sugandha River off the coast of Jhalokati district's Sadar upazila, leaving dozens dead and many missing. Contacted on Friday noon, Hum Jalal Sheikh, the owner of the gutted vessel, told UNB that Anwar, one of the supervisors of the launch, informed him about the fire around 3am. Read: Govt forms panel to probe launch fire, report in 3 days Quoting Supervisor Anwar, Hum Jalal said there was an explosion on the second floor, followed by a fire that spread in the cabins of the third floor and the ground floor in the rear of the launch. However, it was not known yet how the fire started. In response to a question about mechanical faults, Jalal said that the launch had at least 21 fire extinguishers, but the fire spread so fast that there was no time to use them. Claiming that there was no mechanical fault in the launch, he said that if the engine caught fire, the fire would never spread to the whole ship. The fire spread from the second floor to the engine and the cabin following an explosion. Jalal owns MV Avijan-10, 3 and 5 launches. "I don't have any insurance for launch," he said. Meanwhile, the Shipping Ministry and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority have formed two separate committees to probe the fire. The ministry panel has been asked to submit its report within three days. At least 39 people were charred to death and 72 others injured in the blaze that ripped through the launch carrying some 800 passengers . The blaze broke out on board the three-storey launch in the middle of the Sugandha River off the coast of Jhalokathi. "We were alerted around 3.30am," Fazlul Haque of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Barishal, told UNB. However, due to dense fog in the area, the first firefighting vessels took some time to reach the ill-fated launch. “Some 37 bodies have been recovered and 72 people rescued from the ill-fated launch," Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Jhalokathi Moinul Haque told UNB. Of the 37 bodies, four were identified and the remaining 33 bodies were sent to Jhalokathi Sadar Hospital Morgue, said the ASP. Read: 39 killed as fire rips through launch off Jhalokati coast Of the 72 injured, some 66 with serious burns have been admitted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital (SBMCH) in Barisal. The others are being treated at Jhalokathi Sadar Hospital. "Of the 66 with up to 50% burns, 18 are women," said Dr Moniruzzaman, assistant director at SBMCH. "Three women and four men with life-threatening burns have been referred to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital as we've no dedicated burn unit." However, UNB Barishal correspondent reported that two of the injured succumbed to burn injuries on the way to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. "Jhalokathi’s local firefighters initially tried to douse the flames and later the Barishal fire service joined them," said Kamal Uddin, Deputy Director (Barishal division) of Fire Service and Civil Defence. Eventually, some 15 fire tenders took nearly two hours to bring the blaze under control, at 5.20am. "The fire was completely doused around 11.30am," said Kamal.