3 students drown in Meghna River

Three students, including twin brothers, drowned after going into the Meghna River for a swim in Sonargaon, Narayanganj on Sunday.

The incident took place near the Kashban area adjacent to the Meghna River in Bhatibandar under Pirojpur Union of the upazila.

The deceased twin brothers were Ashiqin, 15, and his twin brother Arefin, 15, both ninth-grade students of Mogorapara Government School. They were the sons of Faruk Ahmed of Barimajlish area under Mogorapara Union. The other deceased, Abir, 14, was an eighth-grade student at the same school and a tenant of Faruk Mia. The deaths of the two brothers have cast a pall of grief over their family and the entire Barimajlish area.

Adiyan Fariz, 12, a sixth-grade student who witnessed the incident and survived, said they had skipped school that day and gone to Bhatibandar to see the Kashban.

“At one point, we all entered the Meghna River to bathe. I survived because I stayed close to the riverbank. But my two cousins and their friend climbed onto a sand-laden trawler near the bank. As they were getting off the trawler, they suddenly began to sink into the water,” he said.

He added that local residents rushed to the spot after hearing his screams, and the police and Fire Service were subsequently alerted.

After receiving the report, a diving team from the Sonargaon Fire Service and Naval Police reached the scene and launched a rescue operation. After nearly two hours of searching, rescuers recovered the bodies of Ashiqin and Arefin. The body of Abir was recovered about half an hour later.

Zahid Chowdhury, an officer at the Sonargaon Fire Service Station, confirmed the incident and said the diving team immediately went to the scene after being informed that three students had gone missing in the Meghna River at Bhatibandar.