Launch fire tragedy : It was too much, even for the strongest

Professional duties called numerous people to Jiakul village and neighbouring areas in Jhalakathi. The areas are adjacent to the Sugandha river, where MV Abhijan-10 caught fire early Friday, resulting in 42 deaths and over hundred cases of injury.

Tanvir Ahmed, a journalist of private television channel Jamuna TV, went to collect information of the accident from Pirojpur. Speaking to this newspaper, he said in his 13 years in journalism, he is yet to see a worse incident.

"After reaching the spot, I broke down mentally seeing the horrific scenes all around. Living passengers with burn injuries, ashes of those burnt to death, distraught relatives, the area had the makings of a bad nightmare," he said.

"I would've surely lost it, if not for my professional responsibilities, as I knew it was my duty to cover the incident for the media," he said.

Khan Aktheruzzaman Shohag, a Pirojpur based videographer who went to the spot to record videos of the tragic accident, said "I could only keep working because of my years in this profession, otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep my calm and grind my way through all the terror that befell me."

Shamim Hossain, one of the locals of Diakul village who formed an aid group and came forward for the victims, said that they tried their best to save as many passengers as they could, but were left heartbroken to see many of them perish.

"I get flashbacks of those horrid times every time I go near the riverside now," he said. Tragically, he said he will never forget the memory of people burning alive right before his eyes.

For Jhalakathi Fire Station's Shahidul Islam, this was the worst experience of his 21 years of service.

"While trying to put off the fire inside the engine room of the launch, we discovered a boy, aged around 7-8, near the room, which was surrounded by fire. He was screaming and running around frantically, but he couldn't get out. We couldn't bring him out," he said.

They called the boy to come to them while trying to douse the water around him. The boy tried, but slipped and fell on the floor. He would never get up. One fire fighter later approached him and found him dead.

"We will never forget it," he said.