A brother and sister have drowned in a pond in Panchagarh. Locals believe they fell into the water while trying to pick mangoes.

The incident happened on the night of Sunday, 31 May, at Kekupara in Chaklahat union of the Sadar upazila.

The dead are Asif, 11, and Sathi Akter, 9, children of the late Aizul Islam Nendar of the area.

Locals said the children's mother, Asiya Khatun, works as a labourer, and the children lived with her. When she returned home from work on Sunday evening she could not find her son and daughter, and began searching with family members. At night, family members saw Asif's body floating in a pond next to the house. Several local people then went into the pond, searched further and recovered Sathi's body.

Confirming the incident, Chaklahat Union Parishad chairman Rabiul Islam said: "Our guess is that they fell into the water while trying to pick mangoes from the mango tree on the bank of the pond."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.