Riyadh:Dhaka The bodies of seven Bangladeshi victims who perished in a fire at a sofa-manufacturing factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are set to return to Bangladesh on Saturday. This return comes more than two and a half months after the tragic incident.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the repatriation of the bodies is being coordinated by the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh. The victims include five individuals from Naogaon and two from Natore. They will be transported by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 805 a.m. on Saturday.
Flights from Riyadh have been suspended since October 10, necessitating the transportation of the bodies by road to King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah before their flight to Dhaka. The identified victims from Naogaon are Md Shahin, M Hasibul Hasan Shuvo, Minhaj Pramanik, Masidul Sardar Sajib, and Sagar Ali. The two victims from Natore are Mohammad Shamim and Md Sabbir Hossain.
Md Moniruzzaman, the Atrai Upazila Nirbahi Officer, stated that arrangements for the return of the bodies were made in collaboration with the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, following legal formalities and DNA tests. The government is also providing financial assistance to the affected families through the Wage Earners' Welfare Board, and will cover the costs of transporting and burying the bodies.
The fire, which occurred on August 9, claimed the lives of 16 Bangladeshi workers, including 12 from Naogaon. While nine of the bodies were repatriated on August 27, the remaining seven were kept in a morgue awaiting formalities.
Families of the deceased have been enduring not only the grief of their loss but also financial burdens, as many had borrowed money to send their loved ones abroad. Despite the return of their loved ones' remains, they now face the challenge of repaying debts incurred from financing the migration efforts. Parveen Khatun, the widow of victim Sagar Ali, is left to manage her family's debts and raise their two sons alone, with their family home mortgaged and loans unpaid.