Missing tourist’s body recovered in Sundarbans

The body of a tourist who went missing after being swept away by strong sea waves during a trip to the Sundarbans has been recovered from the Dublar Char area, two days after the incident.

The body was recovered around 10pm on Saturday from the forest area after the tourist had gone missing during a trip authorised by the Kadamtala Forest Station in Satkhira.

The deceased was identified as Md Riaz Ahmed, 28, a resident of Kathali West Para in Bhaluka Municipality of Mymensingh. His father is Abul Bashar Dhali.

According to Forest Department sources, 19 tourists travelled to the Sundarbans on Thursday aboard a wooden tourist boat named Ecotourism-2, after obtaining a three-day travel permit from the Kadamtala Forest Station under the Satkhira Range.

The boat was operated by Mizanur Rahman, a trawler owner from Satkhira. The tourists were from Narsingdi, Mymensingh, Dhaka and Gazipur.

At around 1pm on Friday, before reaching Dublar Char under the Sharankhola Range, the boat became stranded on a newly emerged char. The boat’s crew and several tourists entered the water and tried to push it free. At that moment, four tourists were swept away by large sea waves. Three of them managed to return, but Riaz remained missing.

Immediately after the incident, local fishermen, Coast Guard personnel and Forest Department officials launched a search for Riaz. His fellow travellers later joined the rescue operation.

After two days of searching the sea and surrounding areas, his body was found at around 10pm on Saturday in the Kanar Matha area of Alor Kol, approximately 1.5 kilometres from the spot where he went missing.
Md Shahjahan, a fisherman who had gone to Dublar Char for fishing, said fishermen spotted a floating body on a char in the Tana Matha canal and immediately informed the Forest Department. Department personnel subsequently reached the location and recovered the body.

Md Shahinur Islam, officer of the Satkhira Range of the Forest Department, said over the phone on Sunday morning that they had received information about the recovery through the Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) of the department’s Sharankhola region.

He said the body was recovered in the presence of Coast Guard personnel and a team of police from Sharankhola River Police Station. It was handed over to the police station at around 11:30pm on Saturday.