Eleven more bodies of victims arrive

Two little girls break down in tears at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday as they receive the coffin of their father, Anwar Hossain, one among the 19 Bangladeshis who died in a recent road crash in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Photo: Firoz Ahamed

Thirty-five-year-old Rina Begum first visited Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka to see off his husband Anwar Hossain two years ago. She visited the airport for the second time yesterday--this time to receive Anwar as a dead man.
Anwar of Comilla was among 19 Bangladeshis who were killed in a road crash in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on February 4. His body arrived at the airport along with those of 10 other victims yesterday.
Rina, a mother of three little girls, said her husband went to the UAE spending around Tk 4 lakh, which was collected on loans. Anwar could not pay off the debts, she said. "I do not know how to pay the debts and run the family now."
Mukta Begum, who came to receive the body of her husband, Bashar Shaikh Alif, from Munshiganj, was too shocked to talk as journalists approached her.
The response came from Shilpi Begum, wife of Bashar's elder brother. “My brother (Bashar) told me on Sunday, the day before the accident, 'please, do not quarrel and look after my daughters',” she said.
Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain handed the bodies over to their families at the airport.
The other victims are Shahjahan Mollah and Rokon Munshi of Faridpur, Mohammed Faruk and Md Faruq Hossain of Laxmipur, Noor Alam and Habibur Rahman of Comilla, Joynal Kobiraj of Rajbari, and Uzzal Miah of Netrakona.
The minister distributed cheques for Tk 35,000 to each of the victim families as burial cost and said the government would provide Tk 2 lakh more to each of the families later.
On Sunday, seven bodies arrived in Chittagong. The body of the last victim, Wasir Ali, will arrive in Sylhet today.