Dhaka: Rescuers in Bangladesh on Monday
located a bus, which plunged into a swollen river near here,
under deep water, even as the fate of nearly 40 people who
went missing after the incident is not known.
"The bus has been located under deep waters (and)
efforts were underway to salvage it," a police official told
PTI from the spot.
He said only one body was recovered from inside the
vehicle so far.
Around 50 passengers were on board the bus which lost
control as it approached a bridge on its way to Savar from
here yesterday.
The bus then plunged into the Turag river trapping
some 40 passengers inside at Amin Bazar area near Dhaka, they
said.
However, there was no word on the fate of the people
missing.
Rescuers had earlier recovered the body of a student
from the river.
An overnight salvage campaign carried out by army
troops and navy divers along with fire service rescuers using
Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) machines and search
lights made little headway until this afternoon when a fireman
detected the bus.
Witnesses earlier said the bus plunged into the Turag
River as it approached a bridge at Salehpur area on the
Dhaka-Aricha highway on its way to Savar from the capital
city.
Police and witnesses said eight passengers swam ashore
or were rescued by residents at the neighbourhood but one of
them, the university student, was declared dead at a nearby
hospital as she was rushed there.
Local residents said the scene of the crash was
identified as an accident-prone area as 30 passengers died two
years back exactly at the same spot when a bus plunged into
the river.
"The road is curved at the scene and it does not have
any guarder while the bridge was narrower compared to the
width of the Dhaka-Aricha Highway, the factors which expose
vehicles to crashes," a Savar-based journalist said.
PTI
