3 children drown in two districts, one missing

Two siblings drowned in the Nagor River yesterday afternoon while bathing with their father near the Dabri border in Thakurgaon's Haripur upazila.

The victims were Sadia Akhter, 11, and her brother Saddam Hossain, 6, children of Aminul Islam from Jalchakar Moynakuti in Rangpur Sadar.

They were visiting their maternal grandparents during the Eid holidays.

The incident occurred around 2:00pm, said Haripur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Jakaria Mondol.

Locals recovered Sadia's body after an hour of searching, but Saddam remained missing.

A diving team from Rangpur arrived to conduct a rescue operation, but they couldn't find Saddam last night. Their operations will resume this morning, said OC Jakaria.

An unnatural death case was filed with the police station in this connection, he added.

In a separate incident around 11:00am the same day, two more siblings drowned in a pond at Bahirdia village in Saltha upazila of Faridpur.

The victims were Tanha Akhter, 7, and her younger brother, Md Abu Talha, 5, children of Sumon Sheikh from Nowpara village in Madhukhali upazila.

Quoting family members, Boalmari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mahmudul Hasan said the two went to the pond for bathing. They were visiting their maternal grandparents' home after Eid.

A neighbour alerted others after noticing the children were missing. Locals rushed to the spot, pulled them out of the water, and took them to Boalmari Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared them dead.

Dr Shakila Azad, a medical officer at the health complex, said both the children were brought in dead.

OC Mahmudul said Boalmari police prepared an inquest report, and Saltha police were notified to take further legal steps, as the incident took place there.