Joint funeral for the five Jajira traders killed in the Natore crash: thousands bid a final farewell at Kazirhat
The five traders from Jajira upazila of Shariatpur who were killed in the road crash in Natore have been buried after a joint funeral prayer. The janaza was held at Kazirhat Bazar in Jajira upazila at around 9:30 pm on Tuesday (20 October). Relatives, friends, colleagues and thousands of local people joined the funeral to bid them a final farewell.
Local public representatives and business leaders who attended the janaza expressed deep grief at the deaths of the five traders and conveyed their condolences to the bereaved family members. With five bodies together, an air of mourning descended over the entire bazaar area.
After the janaza, the bodies were taken to their respective areas. Following a second funeral prayer there, they were buried in their family graveyards the same night.
The five traders from Jajira were among the 14 people killed in the head-on collision between a passenger bus and a sand-laden truck in the Baraigram area of the Natore-Pabna highway. They met with the accident at around 4:30 am on Tuesday in the Sarkarpara area of the highway while travelling to Natore to buy agricultural products.
The five deceased are: Sohag Sikdar (30), son of Yunus Sikdar of Dubisaybor in Barkandi union of Jajira upazila; Jewel Madbar (32), son of Zahir Uddin Madbar of Ramkrishnapur Madbarkandi; Shahnal Molla (45), son of Jahan Uddin Molla of Dubisaybor Mollakandi; Samad Fakir (65), son of Arab Ali Fakir; and Shahin Bepari (30), son of Razzak Bepari of Kathuria in Palerchar union.
A fellow trader travelling with them, Faisal Fakir (30), was seriously injured in the incident. He has been sent to Dhaka for treatment, and there is concern among relatives about his condition as well.
According to the victims' families and local sources, the five traders had long run businesses jointly at Kazirhat Bazar in Jajira. On Monday evening they set out for Natore to buy various agricultural products and husk goods, including maize, onion, garlic and coriander. Their plan was to buy the goods there and sell them at the local market — a journey that turned out to be the last of their lives.
The late Jewel Madbar ran a rod-and-cement business at Kazirhat Bazar alongside the husk-goods trade. Samad Fakir was involved in the husk-goods business. Shahin Bepari traded in turmeric. Shahnal Molla and Sohag Sikdar, on the other hand, bought and sold various kinds of agricultural products, local residents said.
Traders at Kazirhat Bazar said the five deceased had close mutual relations. They did business together and often travelled together to buy various products. Their sudden deaths have cast a shadow of grief over colleagues, friends and local traders, alongside their families.
Moklesur Rahman Madbar, president of the Kazirhat Bonik Samiti, said: 'The bodies of the five traders of Kazirhat Bazar killed in the road accident in Natore arrived towards the evening. Their joint janaza was held at Kazirhat Bazar at 9:30 pm. More than a thousand people, including the bazaar's traders, relatives and friends, attended the janaza. After the janaza, the bodies were taken to their respective areas. Following a second janaza there, they were to be buried in their family graveyards the same night. All the traders of the bazaar are grief-stricken at the death of five traders together.'
The Baraigram bus-truck head-on collision in Natore, which claimed 14 lives, is one of the most horrific road accidents of recent times. That five of those 14 were from the same bazaar and the same journey has deepened Jajira's grief all the more.
At Kazirhat Bazar there are now only memories of colleagues and the lament of the families. Though the funeral and burials are over, everyone says the wound of five families losing their earning members in a single night will not heal easily.
