Two schoolgirls drowned in the Atrai River in Dinajpur’s Sadar upazila after entering the water to bathe, with their bodies recovered hours apart during a search operation.
The deceased were identified as 12-year-old Shormi Islam, a Class Seven student and daughter of Shafiqul Islam, and 10-year-old Brishti, a Class Five student and daughter of Babul. Both girls were from Hargan village in Sundarban Union under Dinajpur Sadar upazila.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon near the sluice gate beside Beguntara village in the Bhushir Bandar area. According to local sources, three girls went into the Atrai River at around 2.30pm to bathe. At one stage, all three got into difficulty in the water.
One of the girls managed to swim back to safety, while Shormi and Brishti disappeared beneath the water. Hearing the surviving girl’s cries for help, local residents rushed to the river and began searching for the missing children.
Villagers searched the surrounding waters for some time but could not locate the girls. The matter was subsequently reported to Kotwali Police Station, which informed the Dinajpur Fire Service.
A Fire Service rescue team arrived at the scene and began a search operation. As the initial efforts failed to locate the children, divers from Rangpur later joined the operation.
Shormi’s body was recovered from the river at around 8pm on Wednesday, several hours after she went missing. Brishti’s body was found at about 5.30am on Thursday, around five kilometres downstream from the original location, at Jhanjira Firingi Ghat.
The separate recovery of the two bodies brought the search operation to an end, while the incident left their families and the local community mourning.
The two girls were buried side by side in their family cemetery on Thursday morning following a joint funeral prayer at around 9.30am.
Nasirul Islam, a former chairman of the neighbouring Sundarpur Union, said the three children had entered the river to bathe before two of them were swept under the water. Local residents immediately attempted to rescue them and later assisted the emergency services during the search.
Mohammad Nur Nabi, officer-in-charge of Dinajpur Kotwali Police Station, confirmed that the two children were buried together after the funeral prayer at 9.30am on Thursday.
The incident has once again highlighted the risks children can face in rivers and other open bodies of water, particularly when they enter without close adult supervision. During the monsoon, changing water levels and strong currents can make river bathing especially hazardous, even in areas familiar to local residents.
For the families of Shormi and Brishti, however, the warning came too late. What began as an ordinary afternoon by the river ended in the loss of two young lives, followed by a night-long search and a joint burial the following morning.
