"My cousin, Police Constable Sohel Rana, went on a trip to Bhairab with his niece Maria. At the request of his niece, he went out for a ride on a trawler in the Meghna River with his wife and two children. During the ride, several tourists in the trawler asked the boatman to take their photos.
While the boatman was attempting to take pictures the trawler lost its control and was hit by a sand-carrying bulkhead coming from the opposite direction. Family members are waiting for my brother and his family members’ bodies as they have been missing since yesterday (Friday) after this incident.”
Missing police constable’s cousin Imran Hossain broke down in tears while describing the incident.
The tourist trawler capsized after colliding with the bulkhead in the Meghna River near Bhairab in Kishoreganj on Friday evening.
Constable Sohel Rana, son of former army member Abdul Alim, his wife Moushumi Akhter, 25, and two children, Mahmuda Sultana Eva, four, and Raisul Islam, three went missing after the incident. They are resident of Debidwar’s Purba Fatehabad in Comilla.
Sohel served as a constable at the Bhairab Highway police station and joined the police force in 2011.
"Fortunately, our niece Maria is alive. She participated in this year’s SSC exams. She told us that when the trawler was sinking, she jumped into the river with her two cousins in her arms. As she jumped, one of them slipped from her grip. She held onto the other one tightly, but when they started to sink too, she lost grip of the other one as well. In the last moment, as she was about to drown, someone grabbed her hands and pulled her up. After a while, she realized she was on a boat,” police constable’s cousin Imran Hossain said.
On Saturday morning, a scene of mourning was observed when visiting Sohel Rana's family home in his village. Hundreds of neighbours crowded the house with tears, but no family member was present there as they were at the site of the incident in Bhairab, having given up hope and now just waiting for the bodies.
Former Fatehabad Union Parishad member Sadek said: "Upon hearing the news of the incident, I, along with Sohel's parents and other relatives, went to the scene in Bhairab. His parents were repeatedly overwhelmed with grief and despair as they searched for their son and family members."
On Friday afternoon, a group of 16 passengers set out on a boat from the Meghna river bank near the Bhairab. While returning around 6pm, their boat was hit by a bulkhead in the middle of the river, causing it to sink. At that time, local people and the naval police rescued around 10 people. Two severely injured individuals were taken to the upazila health complex, where a woman was declared dead.
During this time, two students named Ruba and Maria, the niece of a police constable were rescued alive by another trawler.
The rest are still missing.