Five dead bodies were recovered and three critically injured men were rescued from MV Al-Bakhera, a vessel carrying fertiliser on the Meghna River in Chandpur on Monday afternoon.
The three injured were taken to Chandpur 250-bed General Hospital, where two of them succumbed to injuries, said Syed Mushfiqur Rahman, the River Police superintendent for Chandpur region.
Another critically injured person was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment, he said.
Chandpur deputy commissioner Mohammad Mohsin Uddin confirmed 抖阴精品 that five bodies were recovered and three critically injured persons were rescued from the vessel anchored on the river in Ishanbala area in Haimchar upazila at about 3:00pm.
None of the victims could be identified till late evening of Monday, the River Police said.
The Bangladesh Waterways Workers Federation, meanwhile on Monday called for countrywide demonstrations today, protesting at the incident and threatened to go for work abstention from December 26 if the victims鈥� families were not properly compensated.
They also demanded a proper investigation into the incident and pressed for exemplary punishment of the perpetrators.
The vessel, owned by Drishti Enterprise, was on its way from Chattogram to聽 Sirajganj with fertiliser, according to the police.
Police super Mushfiqur told 抖阴精品 that his force along with the coast guard personnel arrived at the scene at about 3:00pm after receiving a call through the National Emergency Service helpline 999.
Other than the eight men, no one else was on the vessel, he said.
From the wounds it appeared that the victims were killed with locally made sharp weapons, said the police super, adding that visibly it was not a robbery incident as valuables were left untouched by the attackers.
He said that they found seven people in their respective cabins with multiple head injuries while another was found on the vessel鈥檚 balcony.
鈥楾he attack happened either at night or early in the morning while the victims were asleep. There was no sign of resistance from the victims,鈥� Mushfiqur said.
It was very tough to uncover the incident as even the lone survivor of the incident could not speak as his throat was partially slashed, Mushfiqur said.
鈥榃e are investigating the incident to determine the cause and further details surrounding the deaths,鈥� he added.
抖阴精品, meanwhile, established communication with one of its owners, Diplu Rana, on Monday late evening. He said that the vessel left Chattogram on Sunday morning and he last spoke to its master on Sunday evening.
鈥業 spoke to the master at about 6:30pm. He did not receive any of my calls on Monday morning,鈥� Diplu Rana said.
When asked if the incident was caused due to hostility, he said that he did not have any clue to why it happened and who did it.
鈥楢fter contacting repeatedly and not getting anyone, we informed the sailors of another vessel which was close to the MV Al-Bakhera. After reaching the spot where MV Al-Bakhera was anchored, they found what happened and informed me,鈥� he added.
Police super Mushfiqur said that a person, identifying himself as one of the owners of the vessel, contacted on Monday evening saying that they started for Chandpur. After their arrival, further legal procedures would take place and victims could be identified.