Padma River bus plunge death toll rises to 25, eight still missing

At least 25 bodies were recovered till Thursday morning after a passenger bus belonging to ‘Sauhardya Paribahan’ veered out of control at Daulatdia ferry dock in Rajbari and sank into the Padma River on Wednesday evening.

The rescue operation is continuing amid fears of more casualties.

Talha Bin Jashim, acting officer of the Fire Service and Civils Defence’s media cell, confirmed the death toll at 11AM.

He said the accident occurred at around 5:20PM on Wednesday. The bus plunged at a depth of about 60 feet. After a long operation, divers pulled out the bus at about 12:38AM on Thursday. There were approximately 40 passengers in the bus.

A total of 22 bodies were recovered inside the bus, where six were men, 11 were women and five were children. The death toll, so far, reached at 25.

Of those, firemen recovered 22 bodies, local residents two and naval teal recovered one body. Eight are still missing and the search operation is on, Talha Bin Jashim added.

Emergency response teams from Fire Service and Civil Defence, including one unit from Goalanda Station and a diving unit from Aricha, are actively conducting rescue operations at the scene.

Two more diving units from Dhaka and Faridpur have also been deployed to intensify the search.

The bus had set off from Kushtia with only six passengers, but by the time it arrived in Daulatdia, it had over 40 on board. Though a few people were able to swim and escape, most of the passengers were trapped in the bus.

A pall of mourning has descended on the area since the accident. Many families are still searching for the missing.

The district administration has formed a five-member high-level probe committee led by the Additional District Magistrate, to investigate the cause of the accident, which has been asked to submit its report within three working days.