Tragic

Five girl children drowned in the Mara River in Char Chakla village under Debinagar union of Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila on Friday. The victims were cousins from the same village. 
The children drowned around 1pm while bathing in the river.

The victims were Sumaiya, 9, and Abida, 7, daughters of Md Masud; Sumaiya, 12, and Suraiya, 9, daughters of Nemaz Uddin; and Sharifa, 8, daughter of Shariful.

Local residents said most people in the village were at the mosque for Friday prayers when the children went to the river without telling anyone.

"They went to the river without informing anyone. No one noticed when they entered the water. Later, we found that they had drowned," said local residents.

Local people later went into the river and recovered the bodies.

Officer-in-Charge of Chapainawabganj Sadar Model Police Station Md Ekramul Hossain confirmed the deaths.

He said police went to the spot after receiving the news. By then, local residents had already recovered the bodies.

The river beside Char Chakla village is locally known as the Mara River. It is a branch of the Padma River, said ward councillor Mojibur Rahman. During the rainy season, water from the Padma enters the river and floods it. At other times of the year, there is usually little water in the river, and people use the land for farming.

In a separate incident in Sherpur, a 14-year-old girl drowned while trying to rescue a child in the Mrigi River, a branch of the Brahmaputra, in Nakla upazila on Friday.

The deceased, Lamia Akter, a Class VI student, had gone to the river with her twin sister Samia Akter. The two sisters jumped into the water after seeing an eight-year-old child, Sijda, drowning. They managed to rescue the child, but Lamia drowned while trying to save her.

Local people later rescued Lamia and took her to Nakla Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared her dead. Her twin sister survived and was sent to Sherpur Sadar Hospital for treatment.