MV Raipura abandoned with 150 still missing: Hostile weather, absence of modern rescue vessel blamed

The work to salvage the sunken launch that capsized on Tuesday afternoon in the river Jamuna near Aricha , was declared abandoned yesterday with 150 people still missing. Joint Director (Marine ) Emdadul Hoque of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) formally declared the salvage operation by rescue vessel MV Rustam abandoned at about 6-30 PM after five days of the incident.