A tourist drowned and another went missing in the Karnaphuli River of Rangamati on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as 19-year-old Lokesh Vaidya, son of Apu Vaidya of Shakpura village in Boalkhali upazila of Chattogram district. He was a first-year-student of Chattogram Islamia College.
The missing tourist was his friend Apurba Saha, 18, resident of Chattogram Sadarghat area.
The Navy diving team based in Kaptai recovered the body of Lokesh after a two-hour effort in the evening. Efforts are on to recover Apurba’s body, said Navy sources.
According to the deceased’s friends, around 3 pm, six friends went down to take a bath in the Karnaphuli and started drowning due to the river’s strong current.
Fighting against the current, three of them managed to swim ashore and another was rescued by Fire Service members, two friends went missing.
On information, a four-member naval diving team led by Lt. Commander Faizul Islam Mandal and Lt. Commander Selim Reza started searching for the missing tourist in the Sita Ghat area at 4:39 pm and recovered Lokesh’s body. Apurba however couldn't be found till filing of this report past midnight.
Nurul Karim, an inspector at the Kaptai Fire Service and Civil Defense said that the diving team is conducting rescue operations in and around the scene to recover the body of the missing youth.
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