Overflowing river sweeps away woman, her two children in Sunamganj

A woman and her two children have been swept away by the strong current of an overflowing river at Shalla Upazila in Sunamganj.

They were trying to cross a submerged culvert on the Darain river to reach the main road to Gungirgaon Bazar on Monday evening.

The woman has been identified as Dolon Rani Das, 30, the wife of Rathindra Das of Bilpur village. Her children who also went missing are daughter Joba Rani Das, 7, and son Bijoy Das, 5.

Subrata Das, a resident of Dumra village who witnessed the incident, said the woman started to cross the submerged culvert despite strong currents.

“She didn’t listen to my advice to stop. Her son fell into the river as soon as they started to wade through the water. She and the other child also fell into the river as she tried to save the boy. They were washed away in the blink of an eye.”

A search operation was launched after Subrata informed the local authorities.

Abu Taleb, the UNO or chief executive of Shalla Upazila administration, said he had gone to the site upon hearing the news of the incident. “We’re calling in divers.”