UNB
In a heartbreaking repeat of a similar tragedy, six children lost their lives in two separate drowning incidents in different parts of the country on Friday, casting a pall of grief over their communities.
In the first incident, three young girls drowned in a pond in Parua union, Rangunia upazila of Chattogram, on Friday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Sumaiya Akter, daughter of Md Raju; Habiba Akter, daughter of Md Kalu; and Jannat Akter, daughter of Md Naser. All were residents of North Parua village.
According to Parua Union Parishad Chairman Ekhtahar Hossain, the children were playing near a pond beside their homes when they accidentally fell into the water.
“After they went missing, family members began searching for them and later found the three floating in the pond,” he said. They were rescued and taken to a local doctor, who declared them dead on arrival.
“The tragic deaths of these innocent children have left the entire community in deep shock and grief,” the chairman added.
In a tragically similar event that unfolded on the same day, three young boys drowned while playing near a beel (wetland) in Austagram upazila of Kishoreganj on Friday evening.
The incident occurred at Paschim Alinagar village under Deoghar Union. The victims were identified as Mishkat (5), son of Abul Kalam; Mahin (6), son of Masuk Mia; and Tanil (5), son of Sattar Mia, all from the same neighborhood.
Locals reported that the children were playing in front of their homes in the afternoon when they accidentally fell into the nearby waterbody.
When the children went missing for a long time, frantic family members began a search. They found Mishkat and Mahin in the beel and rushed them to Austagram Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared them dead.
Around 7 p.m., firefighters recovered the body of the third child, Tanil, from the same beel.
Mahin’s uncle, Mobarak Hossain, expressed the family's shock, saying, “The children were playing as usual, but no one noticed when they fell into the water. After searching for a long time, we found two of them first, and later the other one.”
Deoghar Union Parishad Chairman Md. Akhtar Hossain confirmed the incident, stating, “It’s a heartbreaking tragedy — the deaths of three children from the same neighborhood have left the entire area in mourning.”
Austagram Police Station Officer-in-Charge Ruhul Amin also confirmed the incident.
These twin tragedies highlight the persistent danger that unsupervised water bodies pose to children in rural areas, leaving two communities united in grief.
