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Staff Reporter, Sunamganj//

Three people, including a mother and daughter, who went missing after a boat sank in the Surma river in Sunamganj, could not be rescued after a day-long search. A diving team of Sunamganj District Fire Service did not find any trace of the three missing people despite several efforts, said the Doarabazar Thana Police.

On Tuesday morning, 3 missing boatmen and four others were injured when a boat sank while crossing the river in Azampur area near Doarabazar upazila headquarters.

The missing are Jyotsna Begum (35), wife of Ainul Mia, her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Hafiza Begum and Gul Bibi (70), wife of deceased neighbor Noor Ali. They are residents of Azampur Ashrayan Project.

The injured are Hafza Begum, daughter of Ainul Mia, a resident of the shelter project, Zamir Hossain, son of Gulbibi and daughter-in-law Jibarun Necha, and boatman Tofail Ahmad of Sharifpur village.

Locals said that on Tuesday morning, Ainul Mia’s wife and neighbors were crossing the Surma river in a small boat from the shelter project to the upazila headquarters of Doaraja. The boat sank in the middle of the river due to sudden strong current. At this time, the locals rescued four people including the boatman. However, three people, including a child, drowned in the river and disappeared. On receiving the information, the fire service diving team from Sunamganj and the police of Doarabazar police station started the rescue operation.

The missing persons were not found even though the rescue operation was carried out throughout the day till the last news.

Badrul Hasan, officer in charge of Doarabazar police station, said that three people went missing in a boat sinking while crossing the Surma river. A rescue operation has been conducted with the diving team of the fire service.

He said that the rescue operation will continue until it is not found yet.