Eight workers have died after a sand mining dredger sank in the Sandwip channel of the Bay of Bengal in Mirsharai of Chattogram.
The incident took place in the west of the Jetty No 3 in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) on Monday night, when the cyclone Sitrang lashed the coastal areas of Bangladesh.
Six of the deceased are Imam Molla, Mahmud Molla, Shaheen Molla, Al Amin, Tarek and Bashar while the remaining ones are yet to be identified. They all are from Patuakhali sadar upazila.
Salam, the lone worker of the dredger who managed to swim ashore, said the sand mining dredger, namely Saikat-2, sank in the Sandwip channel due to strong winds and waves unleashed by the Sitrang.
The dredger is owned by a contract firm named Saikat Enterprises. The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) appointed the contract at the specialised industrial park.
Minhazur Rahman, the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Mirsharai, said other workers went to the spot by a boat and tried to rescue the trapped workers immediately after receiving the information. They find all the eight workers dead inside the dredger.
Divers and fire service members are working to recover the bodies, added the UNO.