Shawdesh desk:

A fire that broke out in a Barishal- bound launch carrying 300 passengers was doused by launch staff quickly on Saturday night.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Chandur port officer Kaiser Alam said the fire originated in the engine room of MV Survi-9 launch was extinguished before it could spread.

No damages or casualties were reported.

According to the crew, the fire broke out when the launch reached Mohanpur area of Matlab North around 10 pm on Saturday.

They managed to douse the fire before it could spread to other parts of the launch.

Upon information, Naval Fire Service went to the spot from Chandpur.

Mohanpur Naval Police provided security to passenger at the night, said Mohammad Ohiduzzaman, Naval Police in-charge.

Kaiser Alam, BIWTA’s Chandpur port officer said, passengers were sent to Barishal by another launch considering the security issue and MV Survi-9 has been docked at Mohanpur ghat.

On December 24, a deadly fire broke out in Barguna-bound launch MV Abhijan-10 carrying some 800 passengers from Dhaka and it engulfed the entire vessel within 10 minutes.

The death toll from the fire accident reached 49 till January 3. Besides, over 70 people suffered injuries, and many of them are currently undergoing treatment at different hospitals.