'Jump into the Padma', engine master screamed as ferry started to sink
A surviving truck driver’s account of the moments leading up to the capsizing of Rajanigandha, a small ferry carrying nine trucks, into the Padma
It was 12:45am on a cold winter night when the Rajanigandha ferry departed from the Daulatdia ferry ghat in Faridpur, slowly making its way towards Paturia.
Md Ashik had just got on the small ferry 15 minutes earlier with his truck laden with cotton from Kushtia.
He noticed the thick mist that almost clung to the surface of the water.
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A cold breeze sent a shiver down his spine. Ashik's truck was among nine others.
As the mist soon turned into heavy river fog, nothing could be seen. No light penetrated the darkness prevailing over the Padma River.
Almost all of the journey towards Paturia went smoothly, even though the visibility was very poor due to heavy fog.
The ferry stopped a few metres away from the main Paturia ghat. The intense fog had made it impossible for the ferry to berth.
The ferry master soon emerged and asked the drivers to go to sleep. They would not berth before morning.
Most of the drivers, however, chose to stay awake.
At around 8:10am, one of the drivers yelled out: "The ship is sinking."
Md Ashik jumped to his feet. He heard loud splashes as the trucks fell into the river, one after another, as a part of the ferry began to sink.
"Jump into the Padma!" the engine master of the ferry screamed at that time.
The drivers began climbing up to the top part of the ferry, the part still above the water.
"As the top part of the ferry started to sink, I jumped," Ashik said, adding that he somehow managed to stay afloat by swimming in the freezing river water for half an hour until some people on a trawler pulled him aboard.
He said he was carrying cotton worth Tk60 lakh in the truck that now lies beneath the river.
So far, ten have been rescued. Six of them were rescued by the firefighters while four others swam to the shore, Manikganj Deputy Commissioner Rehena Akter said.
Humayun Kabir, the 39-year-old second engine master of the vessel, remained missing.
No casualties have been reported yet.
