Teacher Najibur Rahman died on a crowded Dhaka metro train after asking in vain for a seat, son says

Standing in a severely crowded Dhaka metro train, 64-year-old Najibur Rahman felt unwell and asked seated passengers several times to let him sit down. No one responded, his son Nakibur Rahman says. Within one to two minutes he collapsed onto the floor of the train, and doctors later declared him dead after he was taken to hospital.

"As a son, I will have one lifelong regret — if only someone had let my father sit. Then perhaps he would not have fallen down like that, and could have died with his head resting on someone's lap," Nakibur Rahman said.

Najibur Rahman was an associate professor in the Arabic department of the National University. He fell ill and died on the metro rail on the afternoon of 24 October.

Nakibur Rahman said his father had gone to Dhaka University on the morning of 24 October to attend a teachers' programme. After it ended, at about 3pm he boarded a metro train at Shahbagh station heading for Uttara, accompanied by a teacher from Bangladesh Open University, from whom Nakibur heard the account of what happened.

The train was severely crowded that day as a multi-day holiday had just ended. Unable to find seats, both men stood holding the handrails, and the jostling crowd eventually separated them.

At about 3:30pm, as the train reached the Sheorapara area, Najibur Rahman fell ill amid the crush. He asked seated passengers several times for a chance to sit, but no one responded. Within one to two minutes he fell to the floor.

Passengers standing nearby tried to lift him. His colleague reached the spot after hearing the commotion, and with the help of other passengers they checked him and realised Najibur Rahman was no longer alive. Nakibur Rahman said he believes his father died at the moment he fell inside the train.

Nakibur said his father had diabetes and high blood pressure. After he was taken off the train at Uttara North station, Ansar members helped call the emergency number 999, and he was taken by ambulance to Crescent Hospital in Uttara. Nakibur went there after hearing the news from his father's colleagues. At about 5:30pm, doctors formally declared his father dead.

No family member was beside him when he died. Nakibur said his mother and younger brother were in Saudi Arabia performing Umrah and could not return in time because of complications with their flight tickets. His sister lives in New Zealand with her family and another brother studies there; neither could return after their father's death either. Najibur Rahman was buried at the family home in Gournadi upazila of Barishal without those family members present.

Nakibur Rahman is a member of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and works at a private organisation. Describing his father's death, he said: "I am not blaming anyone. Anyone could end up in such a situation. We should all be sympathetic towards elderly people. Treat them in a friendly way."