Bus falls into Padma: 23 bodies recovered, 21 handed over

At least 23 bodies, including nine children, have been recovered so far from the passenger bus that fell into the Padma River from the pontoon at Daulatdia ferry ghat in Goalanda, Rajbari. Among them, 21 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families by the district administration.

The Rajbari district administration confirmed the information on Thursday (March 26) around 7:30 am.

The identified victims include Rehena Akter, 61, wife of the late Ismail Hossain Khan, and their son Ahnaf Tahmid Khan, 25, from Bhabanipur Lalmia Road, Rajbari; Soha Akter, 11, daughter of Sohel Molla; Zahura Anti, 27, daughter of the late Dr Abdul Alim from Sajjankanda; Kazi Saif, 30, daughter of Kazi Mukul; Tajbid, 7, son of KBM Musabbir; Lima Akter, 26, daughter of Sobahan Mondol from Dadshi Ramchandrapur; Sabit Hasan, 8, son of Shariful Islam from Agmarai village; and Josna, 35, and Safia Akter Rinthi, 12, wife and daughter of Rezaul Karim from Choto Bhaklar Char Barkipara in Goalanda.

Crowd gathers at Daulatdia ferry ghat as 23 bodies are recovered from a bus that fell into the Padma River in Rajbari.

Others include Faiz Shahanur, 11, daughter of Billal Hossain from Kalukhali Bowaliar Bhabanipur; Najmira Jesmin, 30, and Abdur Rahman, 6, wife and son of Abdul Aziz from Ratandia Mahendrapur Belgachhi; Arman Khan, 31, son of Arab Khan from Baliyakandi Pashchim Khalkhola, the bus driver; Marzina Khatun, 56, wife of Md Abu Bakkar Siddiq from Mojmpur, Kushtia; Rajib Biswas, 28, son of Himangshu Biswas from Khagrabari; Israfil, 3, son of Delwar Hossain from Khoksha Samajpur Dhushundur; Ayesha Siddika, 13, daughter of Giasuddin Ripon from Samsupur; seven-month-old Arman, daughter of Nuruzzaman from Shailkupa, Jhenaidah; Mukta Khanum, 38, wife of the late Jahangir Alam from Kotalipara, Gopalganj; Nasima, 40, wife of the late Noor Islam from Parbatipur, Dinajpur; and Ayesha Akter Suma, 30, wife of Md Nuruzzaman from Ashulia, Dhaka.

The incident occurred around 5:30pm on Wednesday, when a Sowharda Paribahan bus lost control and plunged into the Padma River with around 50 passengers near ferry ghat No. 3. The bus sank instantly.