Bodies of four day labourers, who went missing after their boat capsized in the Padma River at Char Majardiar village under Paba upazila in Rajshahi on Sunday night, were recovered from the river.
Local people recovered the bodies from Khanpur village, two kilometres away from the place of the incident on Monday night and early Tuesday, after the divers of the Fire Service and Civil Defence had called off their rescue operations at about 11:00am on Monday.
The deceased are Mohammad Razu, 22, son of Enamul Haque, Mohammad Ali, 38, son of Md Khalil, Md Sabuj, 20, son of Entazul Haque, and Md Faruk, 19, son of Abul Kalam.
All of them were residents of Char Majardiar village.
Paba Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abu Saleh Mohammad Hasnat said that the residents of the bordering Khanpur village first recovered the bodies of Razu and Ali at around 10:00pm on Monday.
鈥楾he bodies of the rest labourers were also recovered from the same place early Tuesday.
鈥楾he namaz-e-janaza of the deceased was held. We will provide financial assistance to the families of the deceased,鈥� he added.
Earlier, a small engine-driven boat carrying fifteen labourers capsized in the Padma River at about 8:00pm on Sunday while the labourers were returning home from Majchar.
All but four managed to swim ashore,鈥� said Shamim Hossain, former member of Char Majhardiar union parishad.
Shamim said that they informed the upazila administration and the Rajshahi Fire Service and Civil Defence officials about the incident, but the latter started their rescue operation on Monday morning.
鈥楧ue to the strong current in the river, we could not reach the spot on Sunday night. We started our rescue operations at 6:00am on Monday but had to suspend the rescue operations at 11:00am due to the strong current,鈥� said AKM Murshed, assistant director of Rajshahi Fire Service and Civil Defence.
