Libya killings: All 26 Bangladeshis buried in Mizdah town
The 26 Bangladeshi migrants, who were killed by kidnappers in Libya in the desert town of Mizdah on Thursday, were buried there yesterday.
ASM Ashraful Islam, counsellor (labor) at Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, confirmed the development to The Daily Star today.
"Local authorities have arranged their burial. They apologised as they could not hand over the bodies to us because the hospital at Mizdah, some 180-km south of Tripoli, does not have enough mortuary capacity to preserve the bodies," he said quoting local Libyan authorities.
The Libyan authorities also said that local gangsters could snatch the bodies of the victims during transit to Tripoli, Ashraful Alam said.
Earlier yesterday, Nasreen Jahan, joint secretary (mission and welfare) of the expatriates' welfare ministry, said that the government was trying to bring home the bodies of the 26 Bangladeshi migrants from Libya and had already communicated with the Libyan authorities via Bangladesh mission in Tripoli to this end.
"Though it is difficult to accept, we have no alternative to accepting such burial. Also, we think that it would have been difficult to fly them to Bangladesh as the airline operations are suspended now," Ashraful also said.
Meanwhile, Sayedul, the Bangladeshi migrant who fled the killing scene and informed the Bangladesh mission about the incident, has been brought to Tripoli and is now undergoing treatment.
He is traumatised, Ashraful said.
The 11 Bangladeshis who were injured in the attack were admitted to a hospital in Tripoli where they are undergoing treatment.
WHAT HAPPENED IN MIZDAH?
The Bangladesh mission in Tripoli confirmed that 38 Bangladeshis and some Africans were held hostage by the Libyan criminals, who could be human traffickers.
They were being brought to Tripoli on Thursday. On the way, the traffickers demanded high amount of money, although the victims had earlier paid up to $10,000 each. There were hot negotiation between the traffickers and the victims.
At one stage, the main trafficker was killed by an African. In return, other members of the trafficking gang fired shots abruptly at the Bangladeshis and Africans.
However, one Bangladeshi managed to flee and take shelter at the house of a Libyan family. He contacted the Bangladesh mission and informed it about the incident.
WHO WERE THE BANGLADESHI VICTIMS?
According to Bangladesh foreign ministry sources, 24 of the deceased have been identified so far. They are Zakir Hossain, Syadul, Jewel, Feruj, Jewel, Manik, Asadul, Ainal Mollah and Monir from Madaripur, Rajon, Shakil, Shakib, Shohag and Rahim from Kishoreganj, Sujan and Kamrul from Gopalganj, Rakibul from Jashore, Arfan from Dhaka, Lal Chand from Tangail, and Shamim, Akash, Mohammad Ali, Sajib, and Shahin.
The injured are Firoz Bepari, Shamrat Khalashi and Mohammad Ali from Madaripur, Sajid from Faridpur, Janu Mia, Sajal Mia, and Shohag Ahmed from Kishoreganj, Omar Sheikh from Gopalganj, Tariqul Islam from Tangail, and Bakul Hossain and Bappi from Chuadanga.
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