Four children drown in Noakhali

Four children drowned in separate incidents in Hatiya and Kabirhat upazilas of Noakhali over two days.

This morning, Nusrat Begum Mariam, 5, from Charloitra village in Hatiya municipality’s ward 2, drowned in a pond beside her house. Family members later recovered her body around 11:00am after searching the area.

A day earlier, on Sunday dawn, the body of Saimun, 4, of Sonadia union in Hatiya, was found floating in a pond. Relatives said the child had been missing since Saturday afternoon. His body was discovered in the pond near their home the following morning.

Hatiya Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Kabir Hossain said the incidents were accidental. Police visited the sites, but no complaints were filed by the families.

In another incident this morning, two children -- Niha, 3, and Jannat, 5 -- drowned in a pit which was filled with rainwater in Narottampur union of Kabirhat upazila. Locals rescued them and took them to Noakhali General Hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

Kabirhat Police Station OC Md Nizam Uddin Bhuiyan said the pit was formed as part of the construction of a house, and rainwater had gathered there. The children drowned while playing.