DHAKA, Aug 3: An official probe into the July 8 ferry accident in which several hundred passengers drowned in Chandpur found seven people responsible for the disaster, shipping minister, Akbar Hossain, told newsmen on Sunday.

Those who were found guilty for the disaster include the vessel’s drowned owner, designer, operators and also the shipbuilding company. The probe body has recommended “punitive measures” against all the seven “as per law.”

The local media reported that the ferry, M.V. Nasreen-1, sank with over 700 passengers on board, and that most of the bodies were still in the ship.

However, the probe report said that a total of 110 bodies were recovered and 199 victims remained missing while the ferry could not be salvaged. Some 230 passengers were rescued, the report claimed.

The probe body cited six major violations of the law, which were responsible for the accidents. The six violations are open air carrying of passengers, carrying of cargo on the upper deck, risky exposure of passengers and goods, transportation of passengers and cargo in unapproved places, negligence in overseeing movement of risky vessels, and no control over the speed of the vessels.

The report blamed the owner of the ferry Mohammad Mamun of Laxmi Bazar of Old Dhaka, who himself was a passenger in the catastrophic journey and eventually drowned with his body still missing. Measures were recommended against him under the law.

The probe report held the captain of the launch M. Jasim Uddin responsible for carrying extra passengers and cargo beyond the permissible limit and he was further blamed for changing the direction of the ferry without controlling the vessel’s speed at the place of occurrence.

Lease-holder of Kathpotti Terminal in Munchiganj, Jahangir Alam, and supervisor of the terminal M. Akhter Hossain were found guilty of loading additional goods, the report said quoting written allegations from more than 100 passengers who escaped the accident.

The investigators blamed the designer of the MV Nasreen-1, naval architect and engineer Abdus Samad for a faulty vessel design. Apart from punishment under ISO, 1976, the probe body also recommended that Samad be ousted from the panel of designers approved by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

BIWTA’s assistant engineer M. Rafiqul Islam, now living in the United States, was found guilty of approving a faulty vessel design and submitting it further to the higher authorities. Measures should be taken against him as per ISO, 1976, said the probe report.

Also, supervisor of the launch Abdul Mannan was accused of abetting the build-up of the vessel without correcting the faults while inspection. Along with punishment as per law, the report suggested that his name be dropped from the list of supervisors in the Department of Shipping. Messers Chittagong Ship Builders, located in Char Kaliganj under Keraniganj, Dhaka, was found responsible for building the faulty structured vessel, MV Nasreen-1. And the report recommended actions against the company under five provisions of the relevant act.

The probe body report made a 38-point list of recommendations, some of which, as the minister claimed, were in the process of implementation by this time.

Meanwhile, the High Court on Sunday directed the government to submit next Saturday the reports of all inquiry committees formed to probe launch disasters since the country’s independence in 1971.