The bodies of two tourists, who went missing while attempting to rescue a friend pulled away by sea currents in Himchari, have been recovered, raising the death toll from the incident to five.
The body of Harun was retrieved from the beach adjacent to Himchari Museum in Ramu on Thursday morning.
Later, at around 8pm on Thursday, locals recovered the body of SM Nafisur Rahman Nibir from the Kalatali Bhangar Mukh area of Cox’s Bazar sea beach, nearly 26 hours after he went missing.
Harun, 20, was the son of Kabir Ahmad of Bangla Bazar Shasha Colony in the Bayezid area of Chattogram. Nibir, 23, a resident of Uttara in Dhaka and son of Nabibur Rahman, was a third-year student of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at North South University.
According to information from the tourism branch of the district administration, two groups comprising five tourists from Chattogram and seven from Dhaka arrived in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday.
The Chattogram team stayed at Swapnabilas Resort in Himchhari, while the Dhaka team checked into the nearby Sauranest Resort. Members of both groups subsequently entered the sea to bathe near Himchari Museum beach.
The five-member group from Chattogram comprised Rakib Hasan, Harun, Belal Uddin, 20, Akash, 21, and Md Sani, 20, who had arrived on Wednesday morning and checked into Swapnabilas Resort before heading to the beach around 3:00 pm following lunch.
The seven-member group from Dhaka included Samin Israt Nafi, 23, Ruhul Amin Shafi, 23, Aishwarya Akshar, 23, Sufi Amin Nabil, 22, Al Mahibur Ibn Mokarram, 24, Saibul Haq Jisan, 23, and SM Nafisur Rahman Nibir, 23.
Human chain formed to save friend
About an hour into their bath, 22-year-old Rakib Hasan was swept away by strong tidal currents, prompting his four friends to swim to his aid. Hearing their shouts for help, members of the Dhaka group joined the rescue effort. Together, the 11 tourists formed a human chain and successfully brought Rakib to shore alive. However, several members were swept out into the sea during the rescue attempt. Three bodies were recovered on Wednesday, followed by two more on Thursday.
The five deceased tourists have been identified as Akash, Harun, and another friend from the Chattogram group, along with Al Mahibur Ibn Mokarram, Saibul Haq Jisan, and SM Nafisur Rahman Nibir from the Dhaka group.
Recounting the tragic ordeal, surviving tourist Md Sani explained that they had arrived in Cox’s Bazar by train on Wednesday morning with plans to return that night. He said that none of them had ventured beyond waist-deep water in front of their resort when Rakib was suddenly pulled away by the current. Sani added that although both groups managed to pull Rakib back to the beach, two of his friends and three members of the Dhaka group drowned in the process.
Absence of safety measures
Locals alleged that adequate safety measures were absent at the Himchari Museum beach area, pointing out the lack of tide warning flags, tourist police, beach staff, lifebuoys, or tubes. They also alleged that the resort management failed to issue necessary safety warnings.
Confirming these lapses, Sani noted that no beach staff, warning flags, lifebuoys, or swimwear were provided by the resort, which had merely instructed them not to wade deeper than waist level.
Subaktagin Mahmud Sohel, residential medical officer of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, confirmed that three bodies were brought to the hospital on Wednesday and two on Thursday.
Zillur Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer of Ramu, confirmed the deaths of the five tourists from Dhaka and Chattogram. He added that negligence was found on the part of the two resorts involved and legal action would be taken against them.
