A ferry which sank in the River Padma with over a dozen transports on board near the terminal no 5 at the Paturia Ferry Terminal in Manikganj Wednesday morning could not be recovered till night.

The ferry, Amanat Shah, was carrying 17 goods-carrying trucks and covered vans and around 10 motorcycles when it sank.

There has been no report of any casualty till Wednesday night.

The shipping ministry and the Manikganj district administration formed two committees to probe into the incident.

The joint rescue operation of the Bangladesh Navy and the Fire Service for recovering the ferry with rescue ship Hamza has continued till Wednesday night.

Earlier on Wednesday, the ferry started from Daulatdia in Rajbari and reached the terminal no 5 at Paturia at about 9:30am.

A number of passengers of the ferry said that when the ferry reached the middle of the channel, river water started to get into the ferry through ‘cracks’ in the bottom of the ferry.

The master then hurriedly anchored the ferry at the terminal no 5 at Paturia and two of the vehicles on board got off the ferry.

The ferry tilted and sank in the water with rest of the trucks, covered vans and motorcycles.

The ferry master and passengers were seen quickly getting off the ferry, said an employee at the terminal.

Acting chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Nurul Alam, said that rescue ship Hamza had recovered three trucks and a motorcycle from the sunken ferry.

Five covered vans which were floating were also recovered, he said.

He said that it was not possible for Hamza to recover the ferry as the capacity of Hamza was 60 tonnes while the weight of the ferry was over 1,000 tonnes.

Another rescue ship, Prattya, which is on its way to Paturia, will join Hamza to recover the ferry, he added.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation deputy general manager at the Paturia terminal Md Zillur Rahman said that they were investigating the reason behind the sinking of the ferry.

Dhaka division Fire Service deputy director Abdul Halim said that three of their units, including a diver unit, and a diver unit of the Bangladesh Navy were working at the spot.

As per preliminary inquiry, the ferry tilted as excessive water got into the ferry through its bottom, he added. 

The shipping ministry formed a seven-member committee to probe into the incident, asking it to submit a report to the ministry in seven working days.

The committee, headed by additional shipping secretary Sultan Abdul Hamid, includes representatives from the BIWTA, the BIWTC, the shipping department, the local administration, the river police and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Manikganj deputy commissioner Muhammad Abdul Latif said that the incident was unfortunate.

A four-member committee, headed by additional district magistrate Sanwarul Haque, was formed to investigate the incident, he added. 

New Age correspondent in Munshignaj reported that due to strong current in the Padma, regular ferry services on Shimulia-Banglabazar channel remained closed.

Due to disruptions in ferry services on the Shimulia-Banglabazar channel for the past few months, pressure of vehicles on the Paturuia-Daulatdia and the Aricha-Kazirhat routes has increased.