At least four people, including two minor girls, drowned in Cumilla and Kushtia districts on Tuesday.
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported that two schoolgirls drowned in a pond at Nagarsharif village under Chiora union of Chouddagram upazila in Cumilla in the morning.
The deceased are Fatema Yasmin, 9, a class three student, and Jannatul Ferdous, 10, a class four student of Latif Sikder Government Primary School. Both were residents of the same area.
According to locals, the two children went to bathe in a pond near their house at around 10:00am. When they did not return home for a long time, family members began searching for them.
Later, they were found unconscious in the pond and rescued. They were rushed to a local clinic, where the on-duty doctors declared them dead.
Officer-in-charge of Chouddagram police station Mohammad Hilal Uddin Ahmed confirmed the incident.
Meanwhile, a man and his son drowned while retting jute in the dead Kaliganga River in Kushtia鈥檚 Kumarkhali upazila on the same day, reported United News of Bangladesh.
The deceased are Zahidul Islam, 45, an employee at the Kushtia Rural and Poverty Alleviation Foundation, and his son Jihad, 9, a class four student at Jangali Government Primary School.
Locals said that Zahidul slipped while returning to shore with his son on the shoulder, causing both to drown. Villagers later recovered their bodies after a frantic hour-long search.
Sub-inspector Billal Hossain Khan of Kumarkhali police station said that they had received initial reports that the father and son drowned while retting jute.
鈥楢 detailed investigation is underway in consultation with higher authorities,鈥� he added.
