Bodies of 4 Rohingya children, 1 woman recovered from Naf River in Teknaf

Locals recovered the bodies of four Rohingya children and one woman from the Naf River in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf last evening (20 August).

Lieutenant Colonel Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, the commander of Teknaf-2 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), confirmed the matter to The Business Standard.

"On Tuesday evening, locals saw the bodies of four children lying close together and a woman's body a short distance away on the banks of the Naf River in Hnila Union's Churikhali area in Teknaf. They informed the local BGB, local representatives, upazila administration, and police station," Mohiuddin said.

"Locals later recovered the five bodies from separate locations. It has been learned that the recovered bodies were of Rohingya citizens from Myanmar," he added.

Mohiuddin said Dil Mohammad, a resident in the 26 Shalbagan Rohingya Camp who claimed to be the brother-in-law of the deceased Rohingya woman, took the bodies for burial.

Dil Mohammad said that the five bodies were buried around 10:30pm last night in the cemetery of Shalbagan Rohingya Camp.

"They died in a boat capsize during a storm on that night while attempting to cross from Myanmar to Bangladesh," he added.

When asked about the matter, Md Adnan Chowdhury, the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Teknaf, said the five bodies recovered from the banks of the Naf River could not be identified.

"However, a Rohingya citizen named Dil Mohammad claimed the bodies as his relatives and arranged for their burial," he added.