Man, daughter go missing in Dharla River while swimming

MANIKGANJ, Sept 25 (UNB): A man and his daughter went missing in the Dharla River while he was teaching her how to swim in the Sadar upazila of Manikganj on Wednesday morning.

The missing are Mahidul Rahman, 50, and his daughter Rafa Aktar, 11, residents of the Char Kheyaghat area in Sadar upazila.

On information, a team from the Fire Service and Civil Defence, along with divers, arrived at the scene. They searched for the pair until 1 pm but were unable to locate them, Dewan Md Jahidur Rahman, leader of the diving team, confirmed the matter.

According to locals, Mahidul took his daughter to the river around 7 am to teach her how to swim. During the lesson, the cap of a plastic bottle she was using for buoyancy came off, causing water to flood the bottle and resulting in her sudden submersion.

Seeing his daughter drown, Mahidul jumped into the water in a desperate attempt to save her, but both went missing.

The search was ongoing to rescue the father and daughter, said the diving team leader.