A minor girl and three schoolboys drowned in separate incidents in two districts - Chuadanga and Jamalpur.
CHUADANGA: A minor child drowned in the Mathabhanga River in the district town on Monday.
The incident took place at Islam Para under Chuadanga Municipality at around 9:30 am. The deceased was identified as Arabi Khatun, 5, daughter of Md Emon of the area.
Local sources said that Arabi went to the Mathabhanga River along with some friends in the morning. At one stage of fishing, she drowned there.
Later on, Arabi was rescued and taken to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital, where the on-duty doctor declared her dead.
Physician of the emergency department at Chuadanga Sadar Hospital Dr Shapla Khatun confirmed the matter.
JAMALPUR: Three school students drowned in the Brahmaputra River in the district town on Sunday afternoon. The incident took place in Shanakanda area at around 3 pm.
The deceased were identified as Rahi, 15, son of Ejaz, Roshan, 15, son of Raja Mia, both 10th-grade students of Jamalpur Zilla School; and Afif Ahmed, 15, a ninth grader at Mohammadpur Preparatory School and College. Afif came to Jamalpur to visit his grandparents' house from Dhaka.
According to local sources, the three students along with a few others went to bathe in the river near their homes in the afternoon. Unaware of the depth and unable to swim, they ventured into the water, and drowned. The area was particularly hazardous due to deep pits caused by dredging operations.
Deceased Roshan's uncle Shawkat Zaman explained that the boys assumed the water was shallow, mistaking the area for a safe spot. However, the dredged sections made the river unexpectedly deep, resulting in the tragic incident.
On information, Fire Service personnel promptly responded to the scene and recovered the bodies, confirmed Siddique, in-charge of the Fire Service team, adding that the bodies were handed over to their families.
Jamalpur Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jannat Shahid Pinky expressed deep condolences to the bereaved families and announced the formation of an investigation committee to look into the incident. She assured that necessary measures would be taken to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
