Childs body recovered from drain after 19hrs
The body of six-year-old Sanjida, who died after falling into a drain near the citys Mohakhali bus terminal, was recovered by divers of the Fire Services and Civil Defence yesterday. Her body was recovered from the piles of garbage inside the drain yesterday morning, after 19 hours of frantic efforts.
Sanjida fell into the water while playing with her seven-year-old friend Tamim on the bank of the drain around 2:30 pm, locals said on Wednesday.
Some six divers of the Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the spot after receiving information about the incident. They immediately launched an operation to rescue the girl, but her body was finally recovered yesterday morning. The divers recovered the body around 9:45am, some 50 feet away from the point where she had fallen in the drain, said Palash Chandra Modok, inspector of the Fire Services and Civil Defence. The body was found stuck in piles of garbage underneath the black water, he added.
He said five of the divers had resumed rescue operations around 9:45am yesterday morning, but it had been a difficult task as the drain is full of thick garbage. They suspended their operations around 1:30am as they had failed to find any trace of the girl.
Local people alleged that they urged the authorities to clean and cover the drain earlier, but had not got any response. They wondered how many more children would have to give up their lives by falling into the uncovered drains before the authorities take steps to cover them.
