Bodies of Last Seven Bangladeshis Killed in Saudi Factory Fire Arrive Home; In Naogaon, a Mother Waits for Her Son

The bodies of the remaining seven Bangladeshis killed in a fire at a sofa-making factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have arrived in the country. Five of the seven were from Naogaon district. On Saturday (October 31), at the home of the deceased Shahin in the Par Naogaon area of Naogaon town, his mother Nargis Begum broke down in tears again and again as she waited for her son's body, while relatives and neighbours also waited to see him one last time.

In a tearful voice, Nargis Begum said Shahin had wanted to send her money to buy fruit. In her words: 'Shahin said, Ma, I will send the money on the 12th, buy fruit and eat. He wanted to send money for fruit, but my boy burned to death in the fire. I have been left all alone — how will I live now?'

Hoping to change his family's fortune, Shahin, a resident of the Par Naogaon area, had travelled to Saudi Arabia in April this year after borrowing 550,000 taka. He left behind his wife, a six-year-old son, an eight-month-old daughter and his mother, who is over sixty. He died five months after going abroad.

Shahin's aunt Nilufa Yasmin said his father died when he was four years old, and he had grown up through much hardship since childhood. She said that three days before his death, Shahin had spoken of sending money home for the first time — he had wanted to send 32,000 taka on the 12th, of which 20,000 taka was meant to repay a loan instalment and the rest for household shopping.

Shahin's uncle Abdus Salam said his nephew had been hardworking since childhood, and that after his father's death his mother raised him with great difficulty. Noting that the young man, who had gone abroad in debt, died before he could start sending money home, he said the family has been left alone, and he urged the government to look kindly on the family.

Naogaon Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Saiful Islam said arrangements have been made to deliver the bodies to the families at no cost. He added that the administration will provide all-out support to the families.

On August 9, sixteen Bangladeshi expatriate workers died in the fire at the sofa-making factory in Riyadh. Twelve of them were from Naogaon district. In the first phase, the bodies of nine of the dead arrived in the country on August 27; the remaining seven bodies arrived today.

Among those who arrived today, the five from Naogaon are Shahin, son of Mojnu Rahman of the Par Naogaon area; 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 Sojib, son of Mojnu Sardar of Madhabpur village; and Sagar Ali, son of Azhar Ali of Sadhnagar village.