Father of Missing Tuber: 'Please Keep Your Eye on the River for My Son.' [Update, Thursday, 8:18 a.m.]

Shah Alam had just gotten home from work just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when East Hartford police came by to tell him his son was missing after a tubing accident on the Farmington River earlier that afternoon.

"I'm just sitting here, hoping something is coming. Good news," Alam, a Bangladesh native, said. "I'm depressed for my son."

Nasir Alam, 25, was tubing with six others when their tubes capsized in high and rapidly flowing waters following a sudden heavy rainstorm that caused flash flooding. The others were accounted for and some were treated for minor injuries, but are safe, according to police. Alam was still missing as of Thursday morning. 

"He don't swim," Shah Alam said. "Everybody's tube was rolling around five, six times."

The group of tubers was not wearing life jackets as far as police know, Porter said. They were tubing independently and launched near the Routes 4 and 179 intersection on the Farmington-Burlington line. 

Farmington police and firefighters from Tunxis Hose and Avon searched for Alam until about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Seven teams of about 40 police officers and firefighters resumed the search Wednesday morning, according to Lt. Marshall Porter, public information officer for the Farmington Police Department. They scoured "both banks of the river from just north of where the gentleman was last seen until about a half a mile to over a mile downriver near Union School where it takes a sharp end," he said.

Once the search in that area is complete, the rescue team will discuss the next steps, according to Porter. On Thursday morning, he said they are suspending the search until water levels are lower. 

Shah Alam said that his son came to Farmington with five boys and one girl, including a neighbor, around lunchtime and went to the river about an hour and a half after they arrived. Then heavy wind gusts swept through Farmington, he said.

"They were only on the tubes for a short period of time before they capsized or fell off," Porter said. 

One of the boys who was tubing with Nasir Tuesday tried to grab his hand and pull him out, but "the water pushed him down," Alam said he learned from the boy, who he referred to as Richard.

Shah Alam, who said that he hadn't seen Nasir at their East Hartford home for almost four days because of their conflicting work schedules, came to Farmington Tuesday night and returned after 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Teary-eyed, Shah said that he is praying, waiting and hoping for good news. He asked area residents to pray with him for his son and keep an eye out for Nasir.

"I hope he's safe," Shah Alam said. "I hope he's okay. I hope he's coming soon."

Nasir Alam has lived in East Hartford since 1999 and was born in Pakistan, his father said. He described his son as good, nice, clean, happy, responsible and a hard worker. Nasir is currently employed full-time at the CNS warehouse in Windsor Locks. He is an East Hartford High School graduate and attended Manchester Community College. His father said he was hoping to go to medical school to become a pharmacist. In his free time, Nasir enjoys rapping and writing lyrics, Shah Alam said.

Nasir's sister, other family members and friends from the tubing incident also waited at the scene for an update Wednesday afternoon. Porter said the police department is working closely with the families to keep them informed.

"I ask for this townspeople, please keep your eye on the river for my son," Shah Alam said.