Homecoming Turns Tragedy

When their family of expatriates just arrived at the Dhaka airport early yesterday morning, they were overjoyed.

When they arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, they all greeted each other with hugs, kisses, and selfies. Then, they all piled into a microbus and drove to their Moulvibazar home.

But within a few hours, that happiness turned into a terrible nightmare when a sand-filled truck crashed into their car and then a covered van on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in the Shahpur area of Habiganj's Madhabpur.

Sadia Sultana, who was 24, her husband Abdus Salam, who was 32, their 3-year-old daughter Habiba Jannat, Sadia's cousin Shihab, who was 15, and their driver Sadir Ali, who was 25, all died.


Shihab, Salam, and Sadir died right where they were, while Sadia and Jannat died on their way to the hospital, according to Jashim Miah, a sub-inspector with the Shayestaganj Highway Police.

"The dense fog made it hard to see, which led to the accident."

Around 3:30 a.m., the microbus hit a truck full of sand head-on. He also said that another covered van hit the microbus from behind and pulled it forward a few yards.

The bodies were found and all three cars were taken away. Mohammad Abdur Razzak, the head of the Madhabpur Police Station, said that the injured people who were still alive were taken to the hospital.

Family members say that Sadia's brother Raju Ahmed, who is 29, their father Nurul Islam, who is 50, and Sadia's cousin Nishat, who is 18, are all fighting for their lives at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.

"In the blink of an eye, I lost everything. I don't know how I'll get through the rest of my life with this loss "Ferdousi Begum, who was crying, was Sadia's mother-in-law.

"My son Salam was the only one in the family who had a job. Now, we'll have to beg for food to stay alive."

Helal Ahmed, a member of the local union parishad, said that when the family got back together, they were shocked and sad instead of happy.

Raju was a worker from Moulvibazar's Kulaura upazila who lived in Madanagar village. He worked in Malaysia. He got home early yesterday morning.