The bodies of three people who went missing on Friday while bathing in the Shitalakshya River in Shibpur upazila were recovered on Saturday, while a fourth person remains missing.

The deceased were identified as Md Obaidullah, 38, of Bhangal village in Kaliganj upazila of Gazipur; his sister-in-law Shanta, 16; and Sourav, 20, son of Majnu Miah of Char-Lakhpur village in Shibpur.

The missing person is Md Shanto, 24, son of Jewel Miah, from Tangail.

They tragic incident occurred on Friday afternoon in the Shitalakshya River near Lakhpur village under Dulalpur Union.

According to the local residents, Obaidullah had gone to his father-in-law Mojibur Sheikh's home in Char-Lakhpur with his wife and child.

Around 3pm on Friday, Shanta entered the river to bathe and was swept away by the strong current. Obaidullah, her eldest sister's husband, and Shanto, her sister's son, entered the river in an attempt to rescue her but were also swept away.

Several locals subsequently joined the search. Sourav, a neighbour's son, also entered the river but was swept away.

Later, the Fire Service was informed and began a search operation. The search continued until around 10pm but was suspended for the night after the missing persons could not be located.

A diving team from Bhairab resumed the search on Saturday morning. After a prolonged operation amid strong currents, divers recovered Sourav's body around 8am from a location some distance from the incident site.

Obaidullah's body was recovered around 9am. Shanta's body was later found in the Shaoraid area of Palash upazila, around 12 kilometres from where the incident occurred.

Islam Khan, a leader of the Shibpur Fire Service, said divers had recovered three bodies from the river and that the search for the remaining missing person is continuing.

Mohammad Kohinur Mia, officer-in-charge of Shibpur Model Police Station, said efforts to locate Shanto are still underway.