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An expatriate female tourist went missing on Saturday after a tourist boat capsized while returning from a trip to the Sundarbans.
The missing woman has been identified as Riyana Azad, 28, wife of Touhidul Islam, from Bakerganj Upazila in Barishal district.
Surjit Chowdhury, officer-in-charge (OC) of the Sundarbans East Division’s Dhankhari Station, said a group of 13 tourists had stayed overnight on Friday at the Mangrove Valley resort in Dhankhari and set out for Mongla on Saturday in a boat.
Around noon, the boat carrying 13 tourists, including women and children, sank in strong currents at the estuary of the Pashur River in the Dhankhari canal of the Sundarbans.
Twelve of the passengers managed to swim ashore with local help; however, Riyana was swept away, he added.
A search operation was launched by the Forest Department, Coast Guard, and River Police, but as of 6 p.m. on Saturday, the missing woman had not yet been found, OC Surjit said.
Riyana's father Abul Kalam Azad told reporters that the boat carrying 13 people capsized due to strong waves.
He said Riyana was a pilot who later moved to the United States and currently resides in Dhaka’s Uttara area.