Boy’s Death on Ferry: Shipping ministry forms committee to probe it

Titash Ghosh. Photo: Collected

The shipping ministry yesterday formed a probe committee to investigate the death of a critically injured boy on a ferry, which was kept waiting for three hours at Kathalbari terminal for a top government official on Thursday night.

In a press release, the ministry said necessary action would be taken after submission of the report, which will be due within seven working days.

The two-member committee consists of Joint Secretary Shahnawaz Dilruba Khan as head and Deputy Secretary Shah Habibur Rahman Hakim as member.

According to the press release, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), the ferry operator, usually provides emergency service to ambulances.

Meanwhile, non-government organisation Road Safety Foundation yesterday demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and exemplary punishment for those responsible.

Thirteen-year-old Titash Ghosh, a sixth grader of Kalia Pilot Secondary School in Narail, was injured in a motorbike accident in Narail on Wednesday evening.

A day later, the doctors of a Khulna hospital referred him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for an emergency operation.

The family was carrying the boy by ambulance to Dhaka and arrived at Kathalbari terminal in Madaripur around 8:00pm on Thursday. A ferry called “Ferry Cumilla” was already at the pontoon but it had its gate closed and was not loading vehicles.

After the family members learnt that the ferry would be delayed because of an additional secretary, they pleaded to the authorities concerned repeatedly to start the vessel but to no avail. The ambulance was committed to the pontoon and could not go back and take another ferry because of queues of vehicles around it.

Finally around 10:20pm, the ferry started loading vehicles after the authorities learnt that the high official was close to the terminal. Around 11:00pm, the official arrived and the ferry started moving. Titash died on the ferry after some time, the family said.

The ferry had been waiting for Md Abdus Sabur Mondal, the head of Digital Service and Public Service Innovation Cluster and E-service Implementation Specialist of the Access to Information (a2i) Programme at the Prime Minister’s Office.

The official said he did not know that a critically-injured patient was kept waiting or that a ferry was kept waiting for him. Such an act is unacceptable, he said. 

Meanwhile, the Madaripur district administration yesterday formed a four-member committee to investigate the incident.

The committee will see whether there was any negligence or who was responsible for the incident, Madaripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Wahidur Rahman told The Daily Star last night.

Led by Additional DC of Madaripur Shahidul Haque, the committee was asked to submit the report within seven working days and also include recommendations on how to improve management of the ferry terminal, he said.

The other members are Shibchar Upazila Nirbari Officer Md Aasaduzzaman, Assistant Police Superintendent (Shibchar Circle) of Madaripur Abir Hossain, and Assistant General Manager of BIWTC (Shimulia terminal) AKM Shahjahan.

TIB DEMANDS COMPENSATION FOR FAMILY

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday strongly condemned the incident and expressed deep shock and disappointment at the death of the boy.

In a statement, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman demanded that the government provide fair compensation to the victim family and bring the responsible officials under accountability.

The anti-graft watchdog also called upon the cabinet division and the public administration ministry to specify privileges for government officials in order to stop public harassment in the name of facilitating VIP movement.

“It is the basic duty of the state to ensure service on a priority basis regarding emergency treatment. Titash’s premature death is not acceptable in any way due to the misuse of power in the name of VIP privileges,” the statement read.

Such an incident took place because of condemnable misuse of power and negligence of the respective officials who are dedicated to the service of people, it said.

“This kind of incident is undesirable and embarrassing for the government. We hope that everyone involved in it would be made accountable, and the government would take prompt action to stop recurrence of such incidents.”

Meanwhile, social media platforms particularly Facebook have been flooded with criticisms from people after the news spread.