A speedboat with 17 passengers sank in the Agunmokha river on the Koralia-Panpatti waterway in Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali due to hostile weather on October 22. Local fishermen immediately rescued 12 passengers in the accident but 5 passengers went missing in the river due to the surging waves. Subsequently, two Coast Guard rescue teams from BCG station Rabnabad and BCG outpost Rangabali under Coast Guard South Zone conducted rescue operations at the accident site.
After a long 40-hour operation, BCG members recovered a body floating in the water at around 6.45 am on Saturday. Later, they recovered another body from Panpatti. According to BCG sources locals recovered 3 more bodies during this time. The recovered bodies were identified as Rangabali Police Station Member Mahibullah, 45, Krishi Bank Rangabali Baherchar Branch Inspector Md. Mostafizur Rahman, 35, Asha NGO Rangabali Khalgora Branch Md. Humayun Kabir, 30, Md. Hasan, 35 of Amkhola Union of Golachipa Police Station and Md. Imran, 34, of Konakdia Union of Baufal Police Station.
The recovered bodies were handed over to Rangabali police station. Such rescue operations by the Bangladesh Coast Guard will continue in the future as well.
