2 Cuet students drown on campus pond, taking death toll to 3 in 15 days

Two students of Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) drowned in the same campus pond today (12 August), taking the death toll at the site to three within 15 days.

The latest victims are Shanto Deb of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Arnab Dutta of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, both students of the 2024-25 academic session.

They drowned around 1:30pm in the pond beside Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall while bathing with several friends, according to university sources.

At one point, the two students went underwater and did not resurface. Their classmates rescued them and rushed them to the university's medical centre.

As their conditions deteriorated, they were taken to Evercare Hospital Chattogram, where doctors declared both of them dead.

Cuet student Mehedi Hasan said one of the students was rescued within eight to 10 minutes of going underwater, while it took around 40 to 50 minutes to recover the other.

Professor Saiful Islam, director of Cuet's Directorate of Students' Welfare, confirmed the deaths.

"The families of the deceased have been contacted. Further arrangements will be made according to their wishes," he said.

The latest deaths occurred just 15 days after another student drowned at the same pond.

On 28 July, Arnab Saha, a fourth-year student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, died after drowning there.

Following his death, Cuet authorities said they would take safety measures around the pond, including constructing a protective barrier and expanding its banks.

However, two more students have now died at the same site, raising fresh concerns over the safety of the pond and whether the measures announced after the earlier incident have been implemented.

The repeated drownings have also raised questions over the university's arrangements for students using the pond for bathing and other activities.