United News of Bangladesh

The death toll from the multiple trawler tragedy in Bagerhat reached seven on Wednesday, with the recovery of another body from the Bay of Bengal. However, the identity of the deceased fisherman could not be known immediately. Members of the Coast Guard, forest department officials and local fishermen recovered the body during their search and rescue operations in Dublar Char and Bay areas, said Pralad Chandra Roy, in-charge of the Dublarchar Forest Camp in the Sundarbans. "Seven other fishermen still remain missing. The search operation has been going on for the last five days," he added. Earlier, on Tuesday, the Coast Guard recovered the bodies of Mahidul Mallick, 40, son of Syed Ali Mallick of Bhasa village in Kachua upazila of Bagerhat district, and Ruhul Hawlader, 42, son of Ukil Uddin Hawladar of Baga village in the same upazila. The Coast Guard rescued three fishermen hours after several trawlers sank during a sudden storm in the Bay of Bengal. Read: Baul singer dies in B'baria road crash Ten trawlers sank within an 8km radius of Dublar Char and eight capsized in different areas of the Bay of Bengal, 45km off Dublar Char during a sudden storm around 10pm on Friday. Over 150 fishermen were rescued while 14 others went missing then.

A 35-year-old Baul singer was killed and three others were injured when a speeding truck hit a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in which they were travelling on the Cumilla-Sylhet highway on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Jamal Hossain, a resident of Dhaka's Kachukhet area. The injured have been identified as Muhammad Alamin, 37, Yeasmin Mia, 28, and auto driver Siddique Mia, 45. Read: 4 brothers killed in Cox’s Bazar road crash, 5 injured The accident occurred on the highway in the Urshiura area of the district's Sadar upazila around 8.30pm. "The truck hit the auto at a high speed, leaving all its four occupants injured," said Shahjalal Alam, officer-in-charge of Khatihata Highway Police camp. The injured were taken to a local hospital, where Jamal was declared dead on arrival. The baul singer was on his way to Akhaura upazila for attending a music festival when the accident occurred, the OC said.

A man has allegedly shaved the head of a 12-year-old boy for what he said keeping stylist hair at Amirabad in Nalchiti upazila of Jhalakathi district. The incident took place on Monday at Amirabad Bazar in the upazila. Faruk Hawladar, father of the boy lodged a complaint with Nalchiti Police in this connection, said officer-in-charge of Nalchiti Police Station, Ataur Rahman. According to the complaint, the boy went to a barbershop to cut hair. After seeing his haircut Haidar Hawladar, uncle of the local chairman forcefully shaved boy’s head as punishment. READ: 5 students pay price for protest against stalking; get heads shaved Enraged by the boy’s protest Haidar beat the boy before allowing him to go home. Faruk demanded that the tormentor of his boy be punished. He said Haider could have raised the matter with him instead of humiliating the boy.  Contacted, Haidar admitted that he had the boy’s head shaved as his haircut was objectionable and this could spoil other teenagers. Chairman of Magra Union, Enamul Haque, said if the incident is found to be true the offender will be punished.   The officer-in-charge of the local police station said they got a complaint in this regard. Legal action will be taken if any evidence is found.

Four brothers were killed as a pickup van knocked them down on Cox’s Bazar-Chatogram highway in Chakaria upazila of Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Anupam Shil, 47, Nirupam Shil, 45, Dipak Shil,40 and Champak Shil, 30, sons of late Suresh Chandra Shil of Dulahazra union in Chakaria upazila. Read: 3 killed in Cox's Bazar road accident Their five siblings injured in the accident are Plabon Shil,22, Raktim Sharma, 33, Sharan Shil, 24, Hira Shil, 32,and Munni, 30. The accident occurred at 5 am near Memorial Christian Hospital at Malumghat area in Chakaria when the nine siblings were crossing the road, said witnesses. The pickup van hit them when they were returning home after offering prayers for their father in a nearby temple, leaving all injured. Read: 3 die in two separate road crashes in Cumilla Local people rescued them and took them to a local hospital where  doctors announced the four dead, said Safayat Hossain, In-charge of Malumghat Highway police station. The pickup van has been seized and efforts are on to arrest the driver, he said.

The death toll from the multiple trawler tragedy in Bagerhat reached six on Tuesday, with the recovery of two more bodies from the Bay of Bengal. However, the identities of the deceased fishermen could not be known yet. Members of the Coast Guard, forest department officials and local fishermen fished out the two bodies during their search and rescue operations in Dublar Char and Bay areas, said Pralad Chandra Roy, in-charge of the Dublarchar Forest Camp in the Sundarbans. Read: Bodies of 2 fishermen recovered from Bay; 12 still missing "Eight other fishermen still remain missing. The search operation has been going on for the last four days," he added. Earlier, on Monday, the Coast Guard recovered the bodies of Yakub Ali Bawali, son of Sonam Uddin of Boga village in Kachua upazila of Bagerhat district, and Anwar Hossain Badal, 50, son of Syed Ali Hawladar of Andarmanik village in the same upazila. The Coast Guard rescued three fishermen hours after several trawlers sank during a sudden storm in the Bay of Bengal. Ten trawlers sank within an 8km radius of Dublar Char and eight capsized in different areas of the Bay of Bengal, 45km off Dublar Char during a sudden storm around 10 pm on Friday. Over 150 fishermen were rescued while 14 others went missing.

As many as five Russian employees of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant have died in the past 11 days, prompting the police to initiate a probe. On January 28, Barcenko Alexei, 48, died during treatment at Ishwardi Upazila Health Complex, while Shakiroff Alexei, 40, passed away in his sleep on February 2. Three days later, Schukin Pavel, a 48-year-old mechanical engineer of sub-contractor firm Trest Rossem, died at the same upazila medical facility after suddenly falling sick. Also read: 2 Russian employees of Rooppur nuke plant die  Tolmasoff Vassiliev, 59, another employee of another sub-contractor firm, died on the stairs of his 14th floor flat at a tower in the Green City housing project for the Russian officials of the power plant the same day. On Sunday, Vortonikov Alexander, a 45-year-old employee of Nikim Atomstroya firm of the plant, was found dead in his flat at the same residential complex. Asadussaman, officer-in-charge of Ishwardi police station, said that the autopsy reports of the deceased Russian nationals "did not show anything suspicious". Also read: Rooppur NPP Unit-2: Inner containment construction completed "One of them used to have drugs, while another had a cardiac ailment. However, we are probing all the deaths," he said.

Two sisters have succumbed to the burn injuries they sustained in a fire that broke out at their flat in the Bakalia area of the port city Thursday. The deceased were Sabrina Aktar, a 23-year-old third-year honours student, and Samia Khaled, an 18-year-old second-year HSC student of Government Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College in Chattogram and daughters of Alauddin Khaled. Sabrina succumbed to her injuries on Sunday and Samia on Monday morning at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery under Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), said their father. Also read: 2 sisters burnt as building catches fire in Ctg The sisters were at first taken to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital and later shifted to DMCH as their condition deteriorated. The fire broke out on Thursday at the five-storey building in the Rahattarpul area, where they had their flat. According to fire service officials, the fire had originated from the leakage of gas from a cylinder on the fifth floor of the building followed by an explosion. Also read: Two siblings die in Ctg house fire

Two siblings were charred to death while asleep in a fire that gutted their house in Chattogram on Monday night, officials said on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Minhaz Uddin (12) and his sister Ruhi Aktar (2.5), both children of Mohammad Idris Mia. The fire broke out around 10pm at the house of Idris in ward- 4 of Saral union in the district's Banshkhali upazila when the family was fast asleep, officials said. Also read: 2 sisters burnt as building catches fire in Ctg The fire soon engulfed two adjacent houses in the locality, according to officials. 'The fire originated from an electrical short-circuit and by the time the firefighting unit reached the spot, both the children were dead," said Nuru Bashar, team leader of Bashkhali fire service. Dipak Kumar Singha, a sub-inspector at the Banshkhali police station, said that the police were alerted about the deaths. Also read: 70-year old woman dies in fire in Chandpur

Bangladesh’s first-ever direct export of readymade garments by sea  started on Monday with MV Songa Cheeta leaving Chattogram port for Italy. The ship left the port at around 3 pm for Ravenna port in Italy carrying 950 TEUs (Twenty Equipment Unit) in 493 boxes. On Saturday, the ship anchored at NCT04 jetty of the port carrying the empty containers. Port chairman, Rear Admiral M Shahjahan inaugurated the direct ship operation on Bangladesh-Italy route on Monday at NCT jetty of the port. Also read: Don’t get trapped by traffickers, warns Embassy after deaths in Italy Terming it as a ground breaking turn of Bangladesh economy he said ships on this route will be prioritized for facilitating with berthing, key gantry crane allotment and other amenities. Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the EU to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley, Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Enrico Nunziata, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan were present at the inauguration They hailed the direct shipment as a new milestone for Bangladesh in international sea trade. “Now it will mostly take 15 days to send goods to European ports which used to take one and a half months before. It will decrease the carrying cost by 45 to 50 per cent, “said Md Omar Faruque, a Chattogram port official. BGMEA leaders and concerned shipping agents said until now the RMG goods for export were sent to Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysian ports in containers on feeder ships from Chattogram port. From there the containers are carried by larger ships bound for European and US ports, they said.    Also read: Increased capacity of Ctg Port to cut cost of doing business: FBCCI According to them if direct container ship operation on Chattogram-Italy route remains uninterrupted Bangladesh will be ahead of Vietnam in RMG export as it will save lead time and fare. On December 23, the first trial ship operation to Bangladesh from Italy began by bringing empty containers.

Three people were killed and 10 others injured in a collision between a  bus and a mini-truck in Medhakachchapia area  in Chakaria upazila on Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway in early hours of Monday. The deceased were identified as bus driver Bazlul Haque, 40, of Kalkini in Madaripur district, his helper Alal of Dhamrai in Dhaka and truck driver Maulvi Khaled, 35, of Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar. Read: Man dies after being hit by train in city Police and locals rescued the injured people and admitted them to Malumghat Memorial Christian Hospital and Chakaria Upazila Health Complex. Mohammad Osman Gani, officer-in-charge (OC) of Chakaria Police Station said the Chittagong-bound picnic bus collided with the salt-laden mini-truck, leaving three people dead on the spot. Of the injured, six are in critical condition, the OC added.