Another sailor’s body recovered from Mongla channel, 2 still missing

The body of another sailor of a sunken cargo vessel was recovered from Mongla port channel on Friday.

The body was found floating in anchor area no-12 of Harbaria, Mongla Port channel.

So far, the bodies of three out of five missing sailors have been recovered while two sailors are still missing.

The five sailors went missing when a coal-laden cargo vessel sank after colliding with a foreign ship in Harbaria of ​​the channel on Monday night.

Md Abul Hasan Babul, joint general secretary of the Mongla unit of the Bangladesh Launch Labour Association, said, "Two sailors of the cargo were rescued alive from the accident site at Harbaria-9 area of the Mongla Port channel. Five sailors went missing. Earlier, the bodies of two sailors were recovered on Tuesday evening."

"The cargo ship owner and the Coast Guard suspended the rescue operation on Wednesday, but surveillance continued. Since then, the families of the missing sailors have been looking for their bodies in the area where the cargo vessel sank. Police recovered the bodies from the spot after being informed by family members," he added.

The body recovered Friday has been identified as Rabiul Islam, 35,  from Swarupkathi of Pirojpur.

The bodies recovered on Tuesday were identified as Nur Alam, 32, and Mohiuddin, 35. Both of them also were also from Swarupkathi.

However, two more staff members of the cargo vessel are still missing. They are Jihad from Bhandaria of Pirojpur and Samsu from Mongla.

Md Lokman Hossain, supervisor of a labour contracting organisation at the port, said, "The cargo ship Fardin-1 was going to Dhaka after loading 350 tons of coal from a foreign ship stationed at the port. The Panama-flagged mother vessel Handipark, while leaving the port after unloading, collided head-on with the cargo ship and the cargo ship sank immediately. Another launch arrived and rescued two of the seven sailors of the cargo vessel, but five sailors went missing."