Launch Fire: HC to Hear Writ Seeking Compensation on Monday

The High Court has fixed Monday to hear a writ petition seeking Tk 50 lakh compensation for the family of the dead and Tk 20 lakh for the injured in the Jhalakathi launch fire incident, reports media.

The writ, filed in the High Court by Advocate Md Yunus Ali, also seeks a judicial investigation into the deadly incident.

At least 40 passengers were burned to death and 72 others injured after a massive fire broke out in the engine room of the passenger launch MV Avijan-10 in the middle of the Sugandha River off the coast of Jhalakathi Sadar Upazila.

The blaze broke out at 3 am on Friday on the Barguna-bound launch carrying some 800 passengers from Dhaka and it engulfed the entire vessel within 10 minutes.

On Saturday, a seven-member probe body formed by the Ministry of Shipping visited the launch site. Twenty-seven victims of the launch fire incident were laid to rest in Barguna the same day.

The government has already announced Tk 1.5 lakh as compensation for each of the victims’ families.