Two Bangladeshi men drown in sea in South Korea

At least two Bangladeshi men have drowned in the sea in South Korea while visiting the beach.

The dead were identified as Sakibur Rahman Sanjib, 23 and Saikat Hasan Shanto, 20. Both of them hailed from Narsingdi’s Belabo.

The incident occurred at Haeundae Beach in Busan on Monday, the Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul confirmed.

Expatriates said that South Korea has been celebrating its harvest festival since Sunday, which led to four days of public holidays. During the holiday, a team of eight Bangladeshis went to visit Haeundae Beach in Busan and four of them went to the sea to take a dip.

At least two of them were dragged away by strong waves. The lifeguards at the beach rescued them and took them to the local hospital after administering first aid. The doctors in the hospital declared the men dead.

Sanjib and Shanto worked at two different manufacturing companies. They went to South Korea under the ‘Employment Permit System’ (EPS) E-9 visa through the ‘Bangladesh Overseas Employment And Services Limited’ (BOESL) in 2020 and 2024.

“We’re trying to send the bodies home as soon as possible. We’ve spoken to the company owners and sought their cooperation. We hope that they’ll take some initiative,” said Sanjib’s colleague Mohammed Raju.

When asked about the embassy’s role, a source in the embassy said it was not possible to say how long it would take to send the bodies home. ”We need to see if their companies will pay the expenses to send the bodies home. In that case, it will be quicker. If the companies don’t pay, we need to seek permission and funding from the ministry, which takes a long time,” they said.