Three schoolboys drown in Meghna

Three schoolboys, including twin brothers, died after drowning while bathing in the Meghna River in Sonargaon, Narayanganj. They went underwater at around 12:45pm on Sunday in the Bhati Bandar area of Pirojpur union. Fire Service personnel later recovered their bodies.

The deceased brothers were Arefin, 15, and Asekin, 15, sons of Mohammad Faruk, a resident of the Bari Majlish area of Mograpara union in Sonargaon. The other victim, Abir, 14, was the son of Abdul Alim of the same area. They were students of Mograpara HGGS Smriti Government School.

According to Fire Service officials, local residents and relatives, Arefin and Asekin were in Class IX, while Abir was in Class VIII. All three left home in the morning saying they were going to school. Later, they went to the Meghna River to bathe with a classmate, Adiyan Fariz, making four of them in total.

A short while after they entered the river, Adiyan Fariz came out of the water. Arefin, Asekin and Abir were still in the river. At one point, they went underwater. Local residents learned of the incident and began searching the river before notifying the Fire Service.

A Fire Service diving team reached the scene and launched a rescue operation. The bodies of Arefin and Asekin were recovered at around 3:15pm. Abir's body was recovered at around 5:30pm.

Abdullah Al Arefin, assistant deputy director of the Narayanganj Fire Service, said the bodies of the three students who went missing while bathing in the Meghna River had been recovered. Two of them were twin brothers.

Abdullah Al Arefin further said they were initially believed to have been bathing in the river near a bulkhead. When the bulkhead's engine was started and it moved backwards, they were hit by the propeller and went underwater.