Mother's wait ends in tragedy

She had waited for five years to take her son home but tragedy struck on Monday, the day he did return.

She and two others were killed on their way back home when the gas cylinder of the microbus they were travelling in exploded at Chittagong’s Fatikchharhi.

Her son Mohammad Shafi, whose return from Dubai she had been so eagerly looking forward to, had a narrow escape, as he was seated in the front row of the vehicle.

His mother Bulbuli Begum, 65, and 15 others were returning after receiving him at Chittagong’s Shah Amanat International Airport.

Two others killed in the accident were Shafi's mother-in-law Halima Khatun and brother’s wife Parvin Akter.

Those injured were his daughters Promi AKter, 7, Lovely Akter, 9, Sharmin Akter, 11, niece Sumi Akter, 11, and brother’s mother-in-law Moriom Begum, 52.

Shafi told bdnews24.com: “My mother, mother-in-law and brother’s wife have died in the road accident. They sat in the very rear of the microbus.”

Being treated at the burns unit of Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), Sharmin told bdnews24.com: “We, the 17, were returning home, when we sighted a fire in the back of the vehicle.”

Shafi’s brother Sattar was seen pacing up and down the floor of the hospital for the treatment of the four injured children. He could not go to receive his brother because he could not manage any leave from the private organisation he worked in.

He told bdnews24.com, “I got the news while watching television at the office. But I could not imagine that my family has met with such an accident.”

Breaking into tears, Sattar said, “Everyone in my home was very happy that my brother was coming home. My wife went to bring my brother and returned dead.”

“Everybody was supposed to celebrate today. But the accident, just a few miles from our home, has plunged us into insufferable sorrow."

Of the three daughters, Shafi’s youngest Promi suffered around 70 percent burns.

The CMCH’s burns unit Medical Officer Mishma Islam told bdnews24.com: “Though much of her body has been burnt, her windpipe has not been harmed. Sumi has suffered 17 percent burns.”

“The two others are better,” the doctor said.

Fatikchharhi fire service officer Kriti Ranjan Barua said the fire had been caused by the sparks of the battery in the rear of the microbus.