Fog disrupts flights, ferries

Dense fog caused a six-hour halt in flights and ferry services for over six hours today.

Flights at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport was suspended from 3:30am to 9:30am, UNB reports quoting Rezaul Karim, spokesperson for Civil Aviation Authority.

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight was diverted to Chittagong and two other outbound flights were delayed. No domestic or charters took off from the airport during this time.

Ferries were halted on the Paturia-Daulatdia since 1:40am, said Shafikul Islam, manager at Daulatdia office of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC).

The services resumed around 7:40am after the fog lifted, our Manikganj correspondent quotes him. During this time, eight ferries were stranded mid-river and hundreds of vehicles queued on either sides.

At Shimulia-Kathalbari, ferry services were suspended since 1:30am, our Munshiganj correspondent reports quoting Shah Newaz Khaled, assistant general manager of BIWTC.

The services resumed after seven hours this morning after visibility was clear. Overnight, five ferries were stranded mid-river and about 500 vehicles queued on either side of the Padma.