3 drown as overloaded boat capsizes

Three people drowned and six others went missing when a country boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river at Dhutichora in Gaibandha Sadar upazila yesterday morning.

The dead were identified as Rokeya Begum, 45, of Dhutichora village, Feroza Bewya, 50, and Santona Khatun, 10, of Dakkhin Gideri village.

The missing persons are yet to be recovered.

A country boat carrying over 40 passengers, sailed from Nayagram of Gideri union, was proceeding towards Dhutichora char land, eyewitnesses said.

Most of the passengers were farm labourers who were going for harvesting maize in the char area.

As the boat reached mid-river around 11:00am, it suddenly capsized due to  strong current. Nine people fell into the river and went missing while the other passengers swam to the bank.

Local people recovered the bodies of the three females, but six others could not be traced as of filing this report yesterday afternoon.

Fire-fighters from Gaibandha rushed to the spot and tried to trace the missing people.

The boat was carrying passengers beyond its capacity, said Bakhtiar Uddin, leader of fire-fighters’ team.

“We have informed Rangpur fire station for sending divers to help in the recovery attempt,” he said.