Two CUET students drown in campus pond

Two students of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) drowned in a pond on the campus on Wednesday, less than three weeks after another student died in the same pond.

The deceased were Shanto Deb of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Arnab Dutta of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Both were students of the 2024-25 academic session and hailed from Sylhet district.

Sources said Shanto and Arnab went swimming with their friends in the pond beside Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall around noon. At one point, they drowned.

They were rescued and taken to the university medical centre before being shifted to the city’s Evercare Hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

The university’s Directorate of Student’s Welfare Director Prof Md Saiful Islam said the families of the deceased were informed. “Further arrangements will be made according to the wishes of their families,” he said.

On 28 July, Arnab Saha, a fourth-year student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, also drowned in the same pond.

After the incident, the university authorities assured that they would take several safety measures, including installing protective fencing around the pond and raising its banks.

The latest deaths have renewed concerns about safety measures around the campus pond.