Five people, including a woman and a child, were killed as the rope of a launch tied at Sadarghat in Dhaka snapped on Thursday afternoon, on the day of Eid.
Naval police superintendent (crime and operations) Ashiq Saeed confirmed the death of five people to Prothom Alo.
Earlier, the fire service told Prothom Alo that two launches, MV Tashrif-4 and MV Pubali-1, were tied with ropes to the pontoon No. 11 at Sadarghat. The rope of the MV Tashrif-4 snapped and five passengers sustained critical injuries while boarding the launch as another launch, Farhan, was trying to anchor between the two launches shortly before 3:00 pm.
The injured were rescued in critical condition and admitted to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital, where the physicians declared them dead, said Ashiq Saeed.
The incident will be investigated and those responsible for this death will be brought to book, he added.