Dhaka, Nov. 9 -- Four school students have died while picking water lilies from a lake in Meherpur Sadar.

Sadar Upazila administrator (UNO) Khairul Islam said, "The accident occurred around 5:15pm on Sunday at Mominpur Beel."

The dead are Fatema Khatun, 14, Afia Khatun, 10, Meem, 14, and Aleya Khatun, 10 -- all residents of Rajnagar village of the Upazila.

Among them, Fatema was an eighth-grader at Mominpur Secondary School, her sister Afia was a fourth-grade student at Rajnagar Government Primary School, Meem was also an eighth-grader at Amjhupi Secondary School, while Aleya studied in Class 3 at Amjhupi Ideal School.

A local, Safinaz Ara said: "I knew all of them. They were cousins. They went to collect flowers in the Beel in the af...