Teesta boat capsize: Search for 6 missing persons enters third day

The search for six missing persons in the Teesta River, following a boat capsize in Bajra union of Ulipur, Kurigram, entered its third day on Friday morning.

Fire Service divers resumed their search in the Teesta River, but there was still no trace of the six missing passengers as this report was being filed, with relatives and rescuers expressing doubts about their survival.

Md Abbas Ali, an official with Ulipur fire service, said the turbulent river conditions are posing challenges to the rescue efforts.

"Only Allah knows what has happened to them. We are trying our best."

Meanwhile, according to relatives, the six missing passengers include a couple and their child.

Despite a daylong search on Thursday in the turbulent Teesta, no trace of the missing passengers was found. Consequently, the search was suspended in the evening and resumed on Friday morning.

Ulipur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Ataur Rahman said that based on the account of the missing passenger Anisur Rahman's father, Anisur, his wife, and their daughter were on the boat.

Relatives also confirmed that the other three missing passengers are children.

Earlier, on the evening of Wednesday, the boat capsized near the Kharmadama Hat area of Bajra union in the Teesta River.

According to information from those rescued, the boat had 25 passengers, including women and children. They were returning to Paotana Gaburarchar village in Pirgacha, Rangpur, via the Teesta waterway from the Bajra Puran Bazar area in Ulipur.

On Wednesday night, 18 passengers were rescued alive, and the body of a one-and-a-half-year-old child named Ayesha was recovered.