British journalist Horsbrugh swims across Bangla Channel for awareness about drowning in Bangladesh

British journalist Becky Horsbrugh has swam across the 16-kilometre Bangla Channel from Teknaf to the Saint Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal to sensitise the public about drowning in Bangladesh.

Asia producer of the American news agency The Associated Press or AP, she announced her achievement on Twitter on Sunday. 

She had to swim four hours and 45 minutes to cross the channel.

“Proud to announce I today became the first brit to swim the 16km Bangla Channel. 4 hours 45 minutes in quite rough seas! Photos to follow soon. Thank you to those who have sponsored me so far,” she wrote.

Earlier at a press briefing in Dhaka, noting that Brojen Das was the first Bengali to swim across English Channel in 1958, she had said, “I am really excited!”

Horsbrugh had said she wanted to raise awareness about drowning in Bangladesh after seeing a report that 50 children drown in the country every day while the number is only 15 annually in the UK.

She is also raising a fund for Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh or CIPRB, which has set up swimming schemes in the country to help keep children safe around water.