Bangladesh has abandoned the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation vessel "Banglar Samriddhi" in Ukraine, as 28 crew members were evacuated to land, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said.
"The ship will be abandoned for now. The ministry of shipping has already sent a letter to the Ukrainian authorities, approving abandonment of the ship during wartime. This was very important," he told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting at the foreign ministry.
Ambassadors from Russia, Poland, Romania and Hungary and officials from the finance ministry, energy ministry, Bangladesh Bank, FBCCI and BGMEA were also present in the hybrid-format meeting.
He said the 28 crew members and body of third engineer Mohammad Hasidur Rahman —who was killed when a missile hit the ship -- were taken to a safe place. They will be taken to Moldova or another country bordering Ukraine, he said.
He said Poland border is now quite complicated as more people from Ukraine are moving to that country.
Russia has also assured of help in evacuating the sailors to a safe place. "We will also try to bring home the body of Hasidur Rahman," he said.
If that is not possible, the authorities will take approval of his family for burial there, maintaining rituals, he added.
Asked about which parties —attacked the ship, Masud Bin Momen said, "We have no concrete evidence that Russia attacked it. There is a term— fog of war. That can happen. Russia said they did not attack. They are also trying to establish the circumstances."
He said some 600 Bangladeshis have already reached Poland. Of them, 100 are in the Bangladesh Embassy-arranged accommodation, while others have arranged accommodation of their own.
"We said we will bring them home if they want. The reality is that many of the students don't want to return at this moment. They want to wait and see if they can stay and then continue their studies," the secretary said.
