Atleast five die as boat capsizes

Not more than five people died after a tourist boat capsized in south-eastern Bangladesh on Friday.

According to rescurers, the boat  which was on way to Sublang waterfall was carrying about 30 tourists when it capsized in Kaptai Lake.

It was travelling from Rangamati district headquarters, situated nearly 200 kilometres south-east of the capital Dhaka, Ratan Nath, an official at the Fire Service and Civil Defence department explained.

He said his team retrieved the bodies of five people and rescued the survivors from the lake, which is the country’s largest artificial body of water.

It was created in the early 1960s when a dam was built over the Karnaphuli River for a hydroelectricity project.

Nath could not determine the cause of the accident.

Police officer Khan Nurul-Islam said the victims came from neighbouring Chattogram district for a weekend visit.

Those who died in the accident were employees of a garment factory in Chattogram, he added.