Travelers stranded on flooded road since 3:00 am

A group of five friends embarked on their long-cherished trip to Cox’s Bazar from Dhaka, with hopes of a refreshing break. Their journey began at 11 :00 pm, when they boarded a coach of Saintmartin Paribahan in Dhaka.

However, it did not take much time for their three-day excursion to turn into an unexpected and prolonged ordeal. At 5:00 am, they found their bus stranded in water in the Chandanaish-Bagichahat area on the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway.

The heavy downpour swelled the water level, rendering the highway impassable.

Not only their bus, but also a queue of vehicles bound for Cox’s Bazar had faced the same fate. They reached the spot and became stranded in the late hours of the night.

An 18-kilometer stretch from Hashimpur, Kasaipara of Chandanaish to Lohagara was submerged in water at various sections, halting vehicular movement in both directions. The water level was waist-deep at some places on the road.

Anik Sahad is one of the five friends who have been stuck there since the early morning. Talking to Prothom Alo in the Kasaipara area, he said, “Our bus is stuck in the Gachbaria area, just four kilometers behind us. We moved ahead on foot. How will the bus pass through such deep water!”

His friend Pavel Ahmed accompanied him to the spot, while the remaining three found it better to stay in the marooned bus. The duo came out to assess the situation and in search for food. However, the quest for food did not succeed as a few shops were open, but did not have any food to sell.

Disclosing their ordeal, Pavel Ahmed, who resides in Khilgaon, Dhaka, said, “We've been stranded here since 5:00 am. It is uncertain when the road will reopen as it is submerged in places."

They are traders by profession and were going to the beach city for relaxation. Pavel said, “We’ve visited Cox’s Bazar before. This time, we planned to go there during the monsoon, but we did not anticipate such a situation.”

Their bus remained stuck in the same place as of filing of this report at 5:30 pm.

Elsewhere, a Bengal Paribahan bus was stuck on the flooded road at Kasaipara in Chandanaish. Its driver, Rubel, said, “We've been stuck here since 3:00 am. We are waiting here, having turned off the air-conditioning (AC) system as the fuel is running low."

The passengers were going through a dire situation, with no idea when vehicular movement would resume.

A passenger of the bus, Zahidul Islam, shared his ordeal, “We started from Dhaka at 8:30 pm, but have been stuck here since 3:00 am. We seven people were going to work at the treatment plant of the department of public health engineering in Cox's Bazar on a one-month assignment.”

Zimran Sayek, assistant commissioner (land) of Chandnaish upazila, said communication with Cox's Bazar and Bandarban had been suspended since morning due to rising water levels at multiple locations. Besides, some vehicles had gone out of order at various places.

A truck had reportedly overturned in the water in the Hashimpur area, causing no casualties.

However, hundreds of locals made the best of the dire situation, as they were seen fishing in the waist-deep water.