Five more Naogaon victims of Riyadh factory fire identified, bodies to arrive Saturday morning

Bodies of five more men from Naogaon killed in a fire at a sofa-making factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will arrive in the country tomorrow, Saturday (31 October). The information was given in a notice signed on Thursday (29 October) by Muhammad Rezaye Rabbi, counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh.

The notice said 16 Bangladeshi workers were killed in a fire at a sofa-making factory in Riyadh on 9 August. Nine of their bodies were sent home on 27 August. The remaining seven bodies have been identified through DNA testing.

According to the notice, the necessary formalities for sending the bodies home have already been completed. The bodies will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport tomorrow, Saturday, at 8:05 am on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG 336.

The five remaining identified men from Naogaon in the list sent by the Saudi embassy are Shahin, son of Majnu Rahman of Par Naogaon area in Naogaon town; Hasibul Hasan Shuvo, son of Nazmul Huda of Dubai village in Atrai upazila; Minhaz Pramanik, son of Akkas Pramanik of Madhyaboalia village in the same upazila; Masidul Sardar Sajib, son of Majnu Sardar of Madhabpur village; and Sagar Ali, son of Azhar Ali of Sadhannagar village.

Atrai Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Moniruzzaman said constant contact is being maintained with the families of the deceased. The administration is coordinating with the Wage Earners' Welfare Board to bring the bodies home quickly. Of the five identified remaining men from Naogaon whose bodies are coming home, four are from Atrai upazila and one is from Naogaon Sadar upazila.

Citing the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, the UNO also said that although 13 people from Atrai upazila in Naogaon were initially reported killed in the Saudi fire, the identities of 11 people from Atrai upazila and one from Naogaon Sadar upazila have now been confirmed. Earlier, on 27 August, bodies of seven of the 11 deceased from Atrai upazila arrived in the country.