Launch fire: 23 unidentified bodies buried in mass grave

Bodies of 23 unidentified people killed in a deadly fire on a Barguna-bound launch MV Abhijan-10 on the Sugandha river in Jhalokathi have been buried in a mass grave in Potkakhali of Barguna.

The victims were buried at Potkakhali mass grave around 12:30pm on Saturday (December 25) after their namaz-e-janaza was held at Circuit House ground around 11:00am.

Barguna District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Mohammad Lutfar Rahman said, “Bodies of 37 people killed in a deadly fire on a launch on Friday night were brought to Barguna from Jhalokathi hospital morgue. Postmortem was conducted on their bodies on the night. Relatives of the victims identified 10 of those killed in the launch fire. Work is underway to identify four bodies. However, it was not possible to identify the remaining 23 bodies. Therefore, they have been buried in a mass grave.”

A terrible fire swept through the Barguna-bound MV Abhijan-10 on the Sugandha river in Jhalokathi around 3 am on December 24, killing so far 39 people and injuring many more.

Local administration officials said that the fire originated on the Barguna-bound three-storey vessel around 3:00am, which was carrying over 800 passengers from Sadarghat Launch Terminal in Dhaka.