Pabna, Sept 13 (V7N) - A 30-year-old man remained missing on Saturday after an engine-powered trawler carrying a group of tourists collided with a bridge pillar in the Padma River in Ishwardi, Pabna, while two others were rescued alive.
The missing man was identified as Rakibuzzaman Roki, 30, son of the late Hasan Ali of Kabirpur village in Shailkupa upazila of Jhenaidah.
The accident occurred at around 9:15pm on Friday when the trawler was passing near the Hardinge Bridge point in Pakshi, Ishwardi. According to the River Police and people travelling with the victims, strong currents caused the trawler to collide with one of the bridge pillars.
The impact caused Roki, Liton, 38, and Wahab, 45, to fall into the river.
Other passengers on the trawler managed to rescue Liton, son of Bidyut Ali of the same area, and Wahab, a resident of Arowapara in Kushtia. Roki, however, went missing in the river.
According to the information provided by the River Police, around 120 people had travelled by the engine-powered trawler from Katla Ghat in Shailkupa to visit the Solaiman Shah shrine in Bheramara. After visiting the shrine, they began their return journey at night.
As the trawler reached the Hardinge Bridge area, it was caught in the strong current and struck a bridge pillar, throwing the three men into the river.
After receiving information about the accident, members of the Laxmikunda River Police Outpost and Fire Service teams from Ishwardi and Bheramara launched a joint rescue operation.
The search continued until midnight, but rescuers were unable to locate Roki.
Khandaker Shafiqul Islam, in-charge of the Laxmikunda River Police Outpost, said three people had fallen into the river and gone missing following the accident. Two of them were subsequently rescued alive, while Roki remained missing.
He said River Police and Fire Service personnel were continuing efforts to locate and rescue him.
As of noon on Saturday, Roki had not been found, and the search operation was continuing.
END/MSR/SMA/
