Spike in children’s death by drowning in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat

The flood-hit districts of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat have recently experienced a spike in the number of drowned children. 

Lalmonirhat Civil Surgeon Dr Nirmalendu Roy said of the 11 people to drown in the last six weeks, nine were children.

Even today, Hafiza Akhter (11) went missing while fishing in the Teesta River. The incident took place at Kalmati village. Fire service divers and locals tried for five-and-a-half hours but could not find the fifth grader.

In Kurigram, the numbers are even higher.

The district's Civil Surgeon Dr Habibur Rahman said 26 children had drowned in the last six weeks.

This afternoon, seven-year-old child Niloy Chandra died after drowning in a pond at Phulbari upazila.

Locals and family members said the child went into the pond and drowned. She was playing by herself at the time. Later, they spotted the child and rushed him to Phulbari Upazila Hospital, where the on-duty doctor declared him dead.

Phulbari Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Rajib Kumar Roy confirmed the incident.

The civil surgeons say the numbers are unusual.

Children are also not being supervised properly and awareness campaigns have to be undertaken to curb deaths by drowning, they said.

Flood water has accumulated in places, which exposes the children to more risk than before.