Families want bodies back home quick

Upon entering Hasoi Miah and Mostafa Begum's house in Amorpur village of Kanaighat upazila in Sylhet, the smiling pictures of their two sons, hanging on the wall, greets the guests.

The pictures of Islam Uddin and Moin Uddin were taken couple of years back, before the brothers went to Qatar, by selling almost all of their properties, like many other fortune-seekers, in search of a better life.

The brothers worked hard and eventually were starting to put their lives in some sort of an order. 

But on Tuesday, both of them died in a road crash at Dukkan, 30km away from Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The family has lost all of their wills to live and is in a constant state of despair, as the pictures are the only remnant of the two brothers now.

All they could do is to request the authorities concerned to bring their sons' bodies  back.

This accident also killed Awlad Hossain and Muhib Uddin, two other migrant workers from the same upazila. The accident also left Awlad's brother Rezwanul Karim and another migrant Md Forid Uddin injured.

The families were informed about the accident by the migrants' friends and coworkers over phone calls from Qatar, said locals.

Awlad and Muhib's families have also lost their hopes of survival as they also sold almost everything to send them to Qatar. Awlad is the son of Kutub Uddin of Gordonakandi village and Muhib was from Kaptanpur village.

"We have requested the UP chairman and others to take a prompt action to bring back the bodies," said Delwar Hossain, a local school principal.

Tarek Mohammad Jakaria, UNO of Kanaighat, said, "Bringing back the bodies is the concern of the Foreign Ministry. If the locals or families appealed to the administration, we will forward a request file to the ministry."

"We are arranging a petition," said Rafiq Ahmed Chowdhury, Jhingabari union chairman.

At least eight people were going to work in a minibus when the driver lost control and went off the road on Tuesday morning.

The bodies would be sent home after completion of the official procedures, said embassy officials.