Father dies saving daughter from drowning in Kishoreganj

A father lost his life after jumping into haor waters to save his drowning daughter in Kishoreganj's Karimganj upazila on Friday. Though he managed to rescue the child, he himself was swept away by the strong current.

Md Bashir Uddin, a physiotherapist by profession and son of Abu Bakkar Master from the Gaitail Petrol Pump area in Kishoreganj Sadar upazila, had gone to the Balikhala haor area near the Hasanpur Bridge in Mithamain upazila with his family on Friday afternoon. At one point, they got off a boat to bathe in a submerged road, where his eight-year-old daughter, Shemonti Akhter, slipped and fell into the deep water.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bashir Uddin jumped in to save her. After a desperate struggle, he managed to push his daughter to safety on the road, but the strong current pulled him under before he could get out himself. Locals recovered his body from the water after some time.

Karimganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Soheb Khan confirmed the incident.

Meanwhile, in four separate drowning incidents across Kishoreganj on the same day, the bodies of four children were recovered from Nikli, Mithamain, Katiadi and Bhairab upazilas. The deceased are: Mohammad Hakim (5) of Nanshree village in Nikli; Arif Hossain (12), a madrasa student from Tongi, Gazipur; Naeem Mia (11) of South Lohajuri in Katiadi; and Shubho Islam (12) of Jagannathpur in Bhairab.

In Nikli, Hakim fell into a pond while playing with his elder brother and was later pronounced dead at the local health complex. In Mithamain, Arif Hossain was swept away by strong currents while bathing with fellow madrasa students at a ghat; his body was recovered nearby. In Katiadi, Naeem Mia drowned after slipping into deep water while trying to retrieve a plastic bottle he had left behind. In Bhairab, Shubho Islam, who had been missing since Thursday, was found floating in a river on Friday afternoon. Police recovered all bodies and handed them over to the families.