4 bodies recovered, one still missing

Divers and locals recovered four bodies from the Halda river yesterday, a day after a boat capsized in the river in East Suabil area of Fatikchhari upazila in Chittagong.

The boat with around 20 people on board from Suabil capsized in the middle of the river around 11:30am on Friday. All the passengers, except the five, managed to swim ashore.

The four deceased were going to visit their relatives on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, said locals and family members.

On information, divers of Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation.

The deceased are Rizvi, 12, Md Riman, 18, Nurul Islam, 56, and Md Arman, 5. Another victim Riman's brother Abdur Rahim, 13, is still missing, said Assistant Sub-inspector of Bhunjpur Police Station Abdul Halim.

Riman, Rahim, Nurul and Arman hailed from Korban Ali Hazi Bari of East Suabil village while Rizvi was from Tamij Uddin Munshi Bari, said Abu Taleb, chairman of Suabil Union Parishad.

Following the incident, divers with locals' help found two bodies around 9:30am and two more around 10:15am and 11:30am respectively near Nasir Muhammad Talukder Ghat at East Suabil, said Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan, deputy additional director of Chittagong Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Bhuiyan said the divers will continue the rescue operation until the recovery of Rahim.