Missing tourist still untraced in Sundarbans as search continues
Photo: Agamir Somoy
A tourist who went missing after entering the water to swim at Alorkol Sea Beach in Dublar Char in the Sundarbans has remained untraced for two days.
Riaz Ahmed (25), was swept into the sea by strong waves and currents on Friday afternoon. Since the incident, the Coast Guard, Forest Department and his fellow travelers have searched the seashore and various islands in the Sundarbans, but no trace of him has been found.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department identified the missing tourist through the national identity card found in his bag. Riaz Ahmed is a resident of Kathali Paschimpara in Bhaluka Municipality of Mymensingh. His father’s name is Abul Bashar Dhali and his mother’s name is Rumela Khatun.
Speaking at around 2:00 pm on Saturday, Forest Ranger Md. Khalilur Rahman, the officer in charge of the special patrol outpost at Dublar Char Fishing Village under the Sharankhola Range of the Eastern Sundarbans, said searches were underway along the seashore and on various islands in the Sundarbans to locate the missing tourist. Members of the Forest Department and Coast Guard were taking part in the operation alongside his fellow travelers.
Forest Ranger Khalilur Rahman said, “It is extremely difficult to locate the missing tourist even by deploying divers in the vast sea. The chances of recovery are low until the body surfaces. Therefore, it may take another one or two days to find the body.”
He added that the missing tourist’s family members had already been informed. His relatives had set out from Bhaluka in Mymensingh for Alorkol.
According to the Forest Department, a wooden tourist launch named ‘Ecotourism’ arrived at Alorkol around 3:00 pm on Friday after visiting Hiron Point and Nilkamal in the Sundarbans with 10 tourists on board. The tourists later traveled from the launch to Alorkol Char by a trawler. Three of them went to swim at the sea beach. At that time, Riaz was swept into the sea by strong waves and currents.
Fishermen from Alorkol Shutki Palli witnessed the incident and immediately informed the Coast Guard and Forest Department. A rescue operation began shortly afterward.
Lieutenant Md. Abul Kashem, media officer of the Coast Guard’s West Zone, said a Coast Guard patrol team was sent to the scene immediately after receiving news that a tourist had gone missing. The search operation has continued since then.
Meanwhile, Md. Hasanur Rahman, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Khulna region under the Sundarbans West Division, said two tourist launches had traveled to Dublar Char in the Eastern Sundarbans after obtaining permits from the Burigoalini Forest Station under the Satkhira Range of the Western Sundarbans on Friday morning.
A total of 30 tourists were aboard the two launches. He had received information that a tourist from one of the launches had been swept into the sea.
