Residents search for their belongings amid the debis of their collapsed huts after the cyclone Sitrang hits in Chattogram, Bangladesh on Oct 25, 2022. (RABIN CHOWDHURY / AFP)
DHAKA – A 63-hour search and rescue mission has concluded with the eighth and last body found from a sand-laden dredger that sank off the coast of Bangladesh's Chattogram district, some 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, in the wake of Cyclone Sitrang.
Fire service and civil defense's deputy assistant director in Chattogram, Abdullah Harun Pasha, told journalists Thursday that eight workers out of nine onboard the dredger are now confirmed dead.
Fire service and civil defense's deputy assistant director in Chattogram, Abdullah Harun Pasha, told journalists Thursday that eight workers out of nine onboard the dredger are now confirmed dead
"Bodies of all the eight missing workers have been retrieved," he said.
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According to the official, divers cut open several sections of the dredger to recover the bodies from inside.
The dredger capsized in extremely rough waters due to the cyclone on Monday.
Only one of the nine workers onboard the dredger reportedly heeded calls to return to shore, while the others reportedly decided to stay put.
READ MORE: Official: 3 dead, 17 missing as boat sinks off Bangladesh
At least 35 people were killed as cyclone Sitrang slammed Bangladesh's coastlines and weakened to a tropical depression in the early hours of Tuesday.
With high winds and heavy rains, the cyclone erased houses, crops and infrastructure in a vast swath of the country while most of the casualties were caused by falling trees.