Twenty-six more bodies were recovered yesterday, taking the death toll from Sunday's boat capsize in Panchagarh to 50, and rescuers fear the number may increase further as over 30 persons were missing. 

The air was heavy with grief as relatives of the missing crowded the bank of the Karatoa river.

Dipankar Roy, additional deputy commissioner and also convener of the probe body formed by the district administration, confirmed the death toll from the control room at Mareya union parishad.

There were 25 women and 13 children among the victims, most of whom were Hindu devotees going to the Bodeshwari Temple to take part in rituals centring Mahalaya.

The bodies were recovered from the river at different places in Boda and Debiganj upazilas in Panchagarh, and Dinajpur's Birganj and Khansama upazilas as the current carried bodies 25km from the spot in Mareya union's Awalia ghat in Boda.

Abdul Lotif, a local in Khansama upazila, said he saw floating bodies after the tragedy in Panchagarh. Divers from Rajshahi, Rangpur and Kurigram were conducting rescue operations at different places from Awalia ghat to Khansama.

Raghunath Chandra Roy of Boda upazila said his sister-in-law and 12-year-old nephew remain missing since the boat capsize. "We had been searching for them since the incident on Sunday," he said.

Getting information of body recovery in Basulia village in Khansama, he along with his relatives went there and found the body of his sister-in-law but not the 12-year-old child.

On Sunday afternoon, the boat carrying more than 100 people capsized a short time after leaving Awalia ghat. Witnesses and survivors said on the day that the boat had the capacity to carry only 50.

Dipak Kumar Roy, 35, of Sakoya Bazar in Boda upazila who was looking for his mother, said the death toll could have been less had the firefighters taken immediate steps following the boat capsize.

Al Amin, a survivor, said the boat was overloaded and it capsized within a few minutes.

Mareya Union Parishad Chairman Abu Ansar Md Razaul Karim Shamim, who was present at the spot during the incident, told The Daily Star that police and firefighters were present there since morning.

When the weather became clearer around noon the devotees started rushing to the ghat to cross the river and attend the religious occasion, which is held six days before the Durga Puja.

In their eagerness to reach the temple before the ceremonies ended, they boarded the boat surpassing capacity.

A woman is in tears at Mareya village in Panchagarh’s Boda upazila as she looks for her two relatives who were missing since a boat carrying Hindu devotees, going to Bodeshwari Temple, capsized in the Karatoa river on September 25, 2022. Photo: Md Quamrul Islam Rubaiyat/Star

Asked why firefighters allowed people to board the boat beyond its capacity, Md Shahjahan, the team leader of the firefighting unit present there at the time, said the devotees did not obey their repeated requests.

Refuting the allegation that they did not act quickly enough following the incident, Shajahan said they tried their best to save the people even though there were not enough firefighters, considering the scale of the operation.

Replying to a query, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Solaiman Ali said they could not imagine such an incident would happen. Police and firefighters were deployed there.

Sujeo Kumar Roy, officer-in-charge of Boda Police Station, said they had taken measures to avoid untoward incidents, but luck was not on their side.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan visited the spot yesterday afternoon and said the family of each victim would get Tk 25,000.

The probe committee headed by ADC Dipankar Kumar Roy, which was asked to submit a report by Wednesday, is taking statements from different groups of people including local public representatives, police, and firefighters.

The bodies of victims recovered yesterday are: Brizendranath, 55, Kabita Rani, 50, Suchitra Rani, 22, Dipu Babu, 10, Jharna Bala, 50, Bejobala, 50, Dipshikha Rani, 10, Jogodish Chandra, 60, Subrata, 2, Joty Mitra Roy, 15, Genda Rani, 50, Konika Rani, 40, Sumitra Rani, 45, Adori Rani Rani, 50, Pushpa Rani, 50, Protima Rani, 50, Surjonath Barman, 12, Harikishore Roy, 45, Nikhil Chandra Barman, 60, Sushil Chandra, 65, Juthi Rani, 1, Rajmohon Adhikari, 65, Rupali Rani Roy, 38, Pradeep Roy, 30, Parul Rani, 32, and Pratima Rani Roy, 39.