In the last five years, 20 tourists drowned while taking bath in the sea in Cox’s Bazar. At the same time, 354 people have been rescued from the sea. The main reasons for the accident are to go deep in the sea without knowing how to swim and not understanding the signals of the red and red-yellow flags on the beach.
The Cox’s Bazar district administration has identified the causes of these accidents and given 10 new instructions including wearing life jackets before going to the beach to prevent accidents.
New instructions are:
If anyone does not know how to swim, he/she have to use a life jacket when going into the sea water. No scope to getting down at red flag marked point. Follow the instructions of the lifeguard in the beach area is mandatory.
No one can go out to sea after 5 pm. Before going to sea, tourists have to know the current weather conditions including the tides. No one would be allowed to go into the sea from any other point without the designated place indicated by the lifeguard.
In addition, strong currents and hidden holes can form in the sea at any moment, so it is important to know the speed of the wind before the floating object enters the sea water.
Children should always be kept accompanied on the beach; they would not be allowed to go out to sea alone and not to go beyond the knee water with a sick or weak body.
Besides, the district administration has put up signboards identifying the hidden holes of the beach and the areas prone to mass flow.
Meanwhile, 27 workers in two shifts are engaged in the safety of tourists bathing in the sea. There is a shortage of lifeguards to protect thousands of tourists from swimming in the sea, as well as a shortage of rescue equipment, officials said.
