An intensive search operation spanning more than twenty-four hours has failed to locate an eight-year-old girl who went missing while bathing in the Brahmaputra river in Chilmari upazila, Kurigram. Despite extensive efforts by local residents and a specialised diving team from the Fire Service and Civil Defence, the child remains missing under the water.
Disappearance During Bathing with Peers
The incident occurred on Saturday at approximately 5:00 pm in the Kachkol area of Chilmari upazila. The missing child has been identified as Raisa Moni, the eight-year-old daughter of Rashedul Islam. She is a resident of the local area and a second-grade student at the Kachkol Bazar Nurani Madrasah.
According to statements from local villagers, Raisa Moni went to the Brahmaputra river to bathe in the company of several children of her own age. At one point during their time in the water, she drifted a short distance away from the riverbank and was suddenly pulled under the water by the river currents.
Afsana Khatun, one of the peer children who accompanied Raisa to the river, provided an account of the moments leading up to the disappearance. She stated that the children present made immediate attempts to save Raisa from drowning. However, their rescue efforts proved unsuccessful as Raisa sank beneath the surface of the water within moments. Following her submersion, she did not resurface, and no further trace of her could be found by her companions.
The children immediately alerted local residents and family members regarding the incident. Upon receiving the news, groups of villagers assembled at the riverbank and initiated a community-led search operation. The locals spent the entirety of Saturday night conducting searches along the course of the river, but they were unable to determine the child’s whereabouts.
Deployment of Specialised Fire Service Divers
Following official notification of the incident, personnel from the Chilmari Fire Service station arrived at the location to take over the rescue operation. Due to the depth and flow of the Brahmaputra river, the local station required advanced reinforcement to conduct a thorough underwater search. Consequently, a specialised diving team from Rangpur was dispatched to join the recovery efforts.
The expert diving team arrived at the scene on Monday afternoon and immediately commenced deep-water operations. Working alongside the local Chilmari personnel, the divers conducted multiple consecutive sweeps and searches across different sections of the river where the child was last seen.
The Acting Station Officer of the Chilmari Fire Service, Gulzar Hossain Mondal, confirmed the timeline and scale of the state response. He stated that the specialised divers from Rangpur had carried out comprehensive underwater searches at various strategic points in the river up until Monday afternoon.
Despite these coordinated and multi-phased search efforts by both professional emergency services and groups of local volunteers, no trace of the second-grade student has been recovered. The emergency authorities and diving units have not located the child, and the search operations have continued past the initial twenty-four-hour mark as teams systematically scour the river currents.