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Published : 19 Jul 2026, 05:11 PM
Police have recovered another body washed up on the Teknaf coast in Cox's Bazar.
This is the fifth body recovered from different points along the coast within 12 days.
Abdul Mannan, acting chairman of Sabrang Union council, said the body of a young man was recovered around 11:30am on Sunday from the bank of the Naf River, near the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) outpost by Shah Porir Dwip jetty.
He said police recovered the body after local people reported that it had drifted ashore on the riverbank.
The victim has yet to be identified.
Mannan said the series of bodies washing ashore could be linked to human trafficking by sea or the sinking of a migrant boat bound for Malaysia.
Shah Porir Dwip Police Outpost chief Sub-Inspector Md Sanjib said the body had remained in the water for a long time, leaving the face badly decomposed and making immediate identification impossible.
The man, believed to be between 30 and 35 years old, was wearing dark blue shorts and a light green jersey.
He had light facial hair, while parts of his skin had changed colour after prolonged exposure to water.
No visible injury marks were found on the body during the initial examination, the officer said.
Teknaf River Police Sub-Inspector Suman Chandra Nath said an inquest report was being prepared.
The body will be sent to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue for postmortem after formalities are completed.
He said it was not yet clear whether the victim was a Bangladeshi national or a Rohingya refugee, adding that efforts were under way to establish the identity.
On Thursday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said in a joint statement that two boats carrying migrants to Malaysia had sunk.
The UN agencies said refugees fleeing conflict in Myanmar were continuing to risk dangerous sea journeys in search of safety and a better life.
Preliminary information suggests the boats left Myanmar's Rakhine State in late June.
Most of those on board were Rohingya, while some were believed to have travelled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.
According to the UN agencies, the first boat, carrying around 250 people, lost contact shortly after setting off.
The second, with about 280 passengers, is believed to have sunk off Myanmar's Ayeyarwady coast on Jul 8.
On Jul 8, police recovered the bodies of three unidentified women from Shah Porir Dwip, St Martin's Island and Rajarchhara beach in Teknaf.
Two days later, police recovered a human skeleton from a beach near Shah Porir Dwip.
Police say they cannot confirm whether the bodies are linked to the reported boat disasters until the victims are identified.
Local people say rough weather and turbulent conditions in the Bay of Bengal and the Naf River over recent days have increased the likelihood of more bodies washing ashore.
