After surviving Daulatdia disaster, Kushtia garment worker tells harrowing tale

Four have been confirmed dead from Kushtia -- his native home

Khairul Khan, a garment worker from Kushtia, boarded a Dhaka-bound bus, unaware that within two and a half hours he would face a desperate fight for life as the vehicle capsized into the river, killing at least 26.

In the blink of an eye, the routine journey turned into a nightmare on the Padma River on Wednesday.

Against all odds, he emerged alive with an account that captures the horror of the Daulatdia Ferry Terminal tragedy.

Khairul said he got on the bus around 2:45pm.

The vehicle carrying dozens of passengers, including women and children, capsized in the Padma River after it veered out of control at Daulatdia Ferry Dock in Rajbari.

Luckily enough, Khairul is among those who managed to survive the incident, which he described as "a miracle".

As of Thursday, four Kushtia residents were confirmed dead. Khairul also hails from the district.

He said he was a passenger in the B-2 seat on the bus. On the adjacent seat, B1, was a young man in a white T-shirt. Both boarded the bus from its Khoksa counter.

“The man alighted from the bus after it reached the ferry dock and returned a few minutes later. I stood up to let him take his seat. The bus was heading towards the pontoon. Suddenly it started to shake violently,” Khairul recalled.

“Before having an idea of what was actually happening, I noticed the bus was unstable as it was leaning forward. I still couldn't guess what was happening,” he added.

“But I only understood that the jolting took me close to the door, which was open. I felt like I had fallen into the river. It didn't even take five seconds."

After the bus sank, he saw several other passengers and some bags floating in the water.

“Then I finally realised that the bus had fallen into the river. The survivors managed to swim ashore with the help of people standing on the ferry and pontoon. Someone pulled me up too,” he remembered.

Khairul, however, never saw the man in white again.

The bus had passengers at its full capacity, according to the apparel worker.

“Most of them were women and children,” he said, adding that he heard of the bus driver, too, dying in the accident.

But his assistant and supervisor managed to escape the capsize as both were outside the bus when it fell into the river.

Identified only as Rakib, an employee at the Khoksa counter, said they have no update on Khairul’s co-passenger, who was sitting right next to him.

Rejecting the allegation that the “real” driver was not steering the bus at that time, Rakib said: “This is a fabrication and a lie.”

“Driver Arman was in his seat. I came to know about it after talking to Khairul. The body of Arman has been recovered."