US-Bangla crash: Relatives seek info on passengers

Relatives of Bangladeshi passengers of a US-Bangla aircraft that crashed in Nepal are passing the time with anxiety as at least 50 are reportedly killed in the crash.

The 78-seater Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft took off from Dhaka with 67 passengers and four crew members on board on Monday.

It shot off the runway while it was about to crash into a fence of the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and immediately caught fire around 2:20pm local time.

Thirty-two of the passengers were Bangladeshis, including two children.

Sanzida Bipasha, her husband Rafiq Zaman Rimu and their six-year-old son Aniruddha from Bangladesh were among the passengers.

Bipasha’s brother Shahriar Mithun told bdnews24.com that he saw off the three member of the family at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 12:30pm.

“We are very much upset after hearing about the accident,” he told bdnews24.com by phone.

Bipasha works as a public relations officer at a citizens’ rights organisation, Sujan.

Sujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar told bdnews24.com they were trying to contact officials in Nepal for latest information on Bipasha and her family, but could not reach them.

“We are very much worried. We pray for good news,” he said.

Rafiq, a former journalist who had worked at bdnews24.com, now works for children with disabilities.

Another passenger of the plane was Emrana Kabir Hashi, a lecturer of computer science and engineering department at Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology or RUET.

She was travelling with her husband Rokibul Hasan, a software engineer.