Bodies of 23 Bangladeshi plane crash victims arrive Monday

Nepal authorities have confirmed identities of 23 Bangladesh nationals killed in the US-Bangla Airlines plane crash with their bodies set to arrive on Monday.

An official at the Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu said identities of six Bangladeshis were confirmed on Sunday after 17 bodies were identified the previous day.

“Three of the 26 Bangladeshis, who have been killed, are yet to be identified,” First Secretary (Consular) Ashit Baran Sarker told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

Sohel Mahmud, who is part of the Bangladeshi doctors’ team that is now in Nepal, said DNA tests will be required for identifying the three other victims, if all other methods fail.

“Preparations are under way to transport 23 bodies, which will be sent on Monday,” Prof Mahmud, the head of Dhaka Medical College’s Forensic Department, told bdnews24.com.

He added the team of Bangladeshi doctors is also expected to return on Monday.

The 23 bodies include those of pilot Abid Sultan, co-pilot Prithula Rashid and crew members, Khwaja Hossain Mohammad Shafey and Sharmeen Akter Nabila.

The others are Foysal Ahmed, Bilkis Ara, Begum Hurun Nahar Bilquis Banu, Akhtara Begum, Nazia Afrin Chowdhury, Rokibul Hasan, Hasan Imam, Akhi Moni, Meenhaz Bin Nasir, Faruk Hossain Priok, his 2-year-old daughter Tamarra Prionmoyee, Motiur Rahman, SM Mahmudur Rahman, Tahira Tanvin Shahshi Reza, Begum Umme Salma, Nd Nuruz Zaman, Rafiq Zaman, his wife Sanzida Huque and their 6-year-old son Aniruddha Zaman.

On Mar 12, the US-Bangla Airlines plane crashed as it tried to land at the Tribhuvan International Airport in the Nepali capital, killing 49 people.

The Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft was carrying 71 people.

US-Bangla spokesperson Kamrul Islam told bdnews24.com, “The Nepali authorities have informed us that they are yet to identify the bodies of Alifuzzaman, Pias Roy and Mohammad Nazrul Islam.”

A Bangladesh Air Force plane will transport the bodies to Dhaka.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director Alamgir Kabir told bdnews24.com on Sunday the aircraft is expected to land at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport at 4pm on Monday and that relatives have been asked to be there.

Earlier in the day, ISPR Assistant Director Muhammad Reza-Ul Karim Shammee said that the plane will land at the Bangabandu Air Base in Dhaka’s Kurmitola.

Ijaj Ahmed Milon, whose friend Faruk Hossain Priok died in the crash, told bdnews24.com then, “We have been told to be at the air force base in Kurmitola in the afternoon. The army will hand over the bodies.”

US-Bangla official Kamrul said they will send one of their aircraft to Kathmandu on Monday to fly back the victims’ relatives, who had travelled to Nepal after the crash.

“The relatives will be taken to the Bangladesh Army Stadium (from the Dhaka airport), where the bodies will be handed over,” said the general manager of the airline’s public relations.