Bangladesh News

Five school students, including two sisters, died when a boat capsized in a jheel (water body) at Pallabi in the capital yesterday.

The victims are Nipu, Sadia Mobasherin Shashi, 15, her sister Mafia Mobasherin Brishti, 14, Khuki and Juthi.

Nipu was the only boy and a student of class X, while the others were students of class IX — all from MDC Model Institute in Mirpur-12.

The boat sank with 10 students on board and five of them swam ashore or were rescued, said Amina Rahman Ajanta, who was rescued by a local youth.

“As I didn’t go to school today, my friends came to visit me and we took a stroll by the jheel [water-body] now brimming with rainwater,” Ajanta who was still reeling from the shock told The Daily Star around 3:00pm.

She added a boatman approached and her friends asked him if he would take them on boating.

The boatman agreed and the students got into it. When the boat reached halfway across the jheel, some students started moving in fear.

“At one stage, a panicked student stood up affecting the boat’s balance. As one side of the boat went down, water filled the boat and it capsized,” Ajanta continued.

“I was about to drown when Nipu pushed me up and a local youth rescued me,” she recollected the moments in tears. “I cried out for help but none of the witnesses came forward. Only Nipu and the boatman tried to save us,” she said.

“Though Nipu knew how to swim he could not save his life. He sacrificed his life to save us,” Ajanta added.

Boatman Haroon told reporters the accident occurred as the students started merry-making “desperately”, ignoring his repeated requests.

On information, a five-member rescue team from the Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the spot and recovered five bodies with the help of locals.

The students who were either rescued or managed to swim ashore are Arif, class XII student of Dhaka Commerce College, Kazi Imdadul Haque Ratul, Mridul and Eva, who are students of class IX at MDC Model Institute.