The body of a six-month-old baby named Chehris, who went missing after falling into a canal in Chattogram’s Kapasgola area under the Chawkbazar police station, was recovered on Saturday morning. The infant had been missing for 14 hours before a team of divers from the Fire Service recovered the body from the Hijla canal.
The tragic incident occurred around 8 p.m. on Friday when an auto-rickshaw carrying Chehris, his mother Salma, and grandmother Ayesha lost control and plunged into a drain connected to the Hijla canal, near Nawab Hotel in Kapasgola. While locals were able to immediately rescue the mother and grandmother, baby Chehris was swept away by the water.
According to the child’s uncle, Maruf, they were on their way home from Asadganj when they encountered waterlogged roads and opted to take an auto-rickshaw. The accident happened because a bamboo barricade placed along the canal had been removed, allowing the vehicle to fall directly into the drain.
Witnesses reported that the auto-rickshaw was moving at a high speed, which may have caused the driver to lose control. Following the accident, the driver fled the scene.
Personnel from the Chattogram City Corporation and the Fire Service promptly launched a rescue operation after receiving reports of the incident.
Authorities are investigating the incident, while locals have called for improved safety measures near canals and drainage areas to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
