Authorities collecting DNA sample from cabin crew Nabila’s mother, family say

The authorities are collecting DNA sample from Sharmeen Akhter Nabila’s mother to identify the body of the flight BS211 cabin crew after the deadly crash in Nepal, her family say.

A Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 plane caught fire after it crashed near the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Monday afternoon, killing 49 of the 71 people on board.

Sheikh Md Sadi Shishir, a spokesman for US-Bangla Airlines that operated the flight from Dhaka, said Nabila died along with the three other crew members in the crash.

Her brothers-in-law Billal Hossain and Imam Hossain went to Nepal after hearing about the crash, but were yet to see the body, her mother-in-law Bibi Hajera told bdnews24.com over phone on Wednesday morning.

Hajera said her sons asked her from Nepal what Nabila was wearing during the crash, the size of her footwear and if she had any birthmark on her body.

When bdnews24.com called Hajera again in the afternoon, a woman picked up and identified herself as ‘Pinky’, a daughter of Nabila’s sister-in-law.

She said Billal had told the family that the two brothers had not been allowed into any of the mortuaries where the bodies were kept in Nepal.

She also said the US-Bangla authorities contacted their family to collect DNA sample of any blood relative of Nabila.

“The process to collect DNA sample of (Nabila’s) mother Neela Zaman is under way now,” Pinky said.

Asked about the matter, Kamrul Hasan, another spokesperson for US-Bangla, told bdnews24.com discussions with Nepalese authorities were under way to run DNA tests to identify the bodies.

He said he was not aware if any official of the airliner contacted Nabila’s family over the matter, but added it might have happened.

Emerging from a hospital where the bodies were kept, Bangladesh Ambassador Mashfee Binte Shams told the media in Nepal in the morning the forensics department will take four more days to finish the autopsies.

“Then they will confirm the identities by matching information provided by the victims’ relatives. It may take one or two more days to take back the bodies,” she said.

The confirmation of identity, which will require matching DNA samples, will take three weeks, according to Shams.

Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman told the media that a police team will fly out to collect DNA samples from the dead.

Nabila’s husband Anan Ahmed was in jail in a narcotics case, Uttara West Police Station OC Ali Ahmed said earlier.

But Pinky said Anan was preparing to travel to Nepal. 

Asked about the matter, the police officer said Nabila’s husband might have been freed on bail, but he (Ali) did not know about it.