Five children who drowned in the Mora Pagla River were laid to rest side by side on Friday night, leaving Char Chakla village under Debinagar union of Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila engulfed in grief.
A heavy silence has descended on the village as grieving families, relatives and neighbours struggle to come to terms with the tragic loss. The deaths of the five children have extinguished the hopes and dreams of five local families.
The tragic incident took place at around 12:45pm on Friday, 28 August, during Jummah prayers, when the children went to bathe in the Mara Pagla River.
The deceased children were identified as Sumaiya, 10, and Ariba, 8, daughters of Masud Rana; Sumaiya, 12, and Suraiya, 9, daughters of Nizamuddin; and Sharifa, 12, daughter of Shariful Islam.
According to eyewitnesses and local residents, most of the village’s men were at the mosque for Friday prayers when the children went to the Mara Pagla River without informing their families.
Eyewitness Aklima Khatun said she suddenly noticed that the children had disappeared beneath the water. After she raised an alarm, local residents rushed to the river and began searching for them. The bodies of all five children were later recovered.
Heartbreaking scenes unfolded in the village as some of the victims’ fathers, who are currently working abroad, were shown their children’s lifeless faces for the final time through mobile phone video calls.
The fathers watched their children with tearful eyes from abroad, while mothers and other relatives broke down in grief. The emotional scenes left villagers deeply moved.
Local social worker Abdur Rahman Biswas said the five children were buried side by side at a family graveyard at around 7pm on Friday.
He added that the village had never before dug five graves at the same time.
Debinagar Union Parishad Ward 3 Member Mujibur Rahman said the waterbody, locally known as the “Mara Padma River”, is a tributary of the Padma River and remains dry for most of the year.
However, recent heavy rainfall and rising water levels in the Padma River caused the Mara Pagla River to swell, creating dangerous depths.
Debinagar Union Parishad Chairman Md Hafizur Rahman expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy, saying an incident of such magnitude was unprecedented in the village.
Local resident Kabir Hossain said child drowning incidents occur in the area every monsoon season, but a tragedy involving multiple children from the same locality had never happened before.
College student Atikur Rahman alleged that there are no trained rescue workers or adequate awareness programmes in the area. He said it usually takes more than an hour for the Fire Service and Civil Defence team to reach the scene after receiving information about such incidents.
Another resident, Shukurdi Biswas, highlighted the infrastructure challenges faced by villagers, saying people have to cross a river to reach the settlement as there are no paved roads.
He criticised the lack of adequate government initiatives to prevent such accidents.
Chapainawabganj Additional Superintendent of Police ANM Wasim Firoz confirmed the deaths and said legal procedures were completed before the bodies were buried at night.
Chapainawabganj Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Maruf Afzal Rajan visited the bereaved families, offered condolences and distributed financial assistance on behalf of the upazila administration.
The UNO said awareness campaigns on drowning and lightning strikes are being conducted through local schools and mosques. However, he acknowledged that remote areas still lack trained rescue personnel and swimming training programmes.
He said the issue would be raised with higher authorities to initiate necessary measures.
Chapainawabganj District Commissioner (DC) Abu Saleh Md Musa expressed deep condolences, describing the incident as extremely tragic.
He urged parents to ensure their children become self-reliant in swimming and sports alongside their academic studies. He also called on teachers, local public representatives and social workers to actively engage children in constructive activities.
Local political leaders also expressed condolences over the tragedy.
Nurul Islam Bulbul, Member of the Central Executive Committee of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Ameer of Dhaka City South and Member of Parliament for Chapainawabganj-3, prayed for the bereaved families to find strength to bear the irreparable loss.
BNP Chairperson’s Advisor and Administrator of Chapainawabganj Zila Parishad Harunur Rashid also mourned the deaths, describing the sudden loss of the five children as deeply heartbreaking.
