Rubel Hossain, a 25-year-old migrant worker, died in Saudi Arabia over a year ago. After a lengthy legal and administrative process, his body finally arrived in Dhaka on Saturday. His brothers, Babul Hossain (32) and Osman Gani (40), traveled from their village in Bhujpur Union to receive his remains and bring them home for burial.
But the grief-stricken family’s wait turned into unimaginable sorrow.
On their journey back home, the ambulance carrying the brothers and Rubel’s body crashed into the back of a lorry in the Batisha area of Cumilla’s Chauddagram upazila on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. The impact was devastating—Babul died at the scene, while Osman succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. A relative, Bashir Miah, was also critically injured and is currently receiving treatment at Cumilla Medical College Hospital.
According to Highway Police Inspector Md. Shahab Uddin, the ambulance lost control before slamming into the back of the lorry. Both the lorry and ambulance drivers fled the scene, and police have since handed over the bodies to the grieving family.
On Sunday, the village of Talukdar Para in Fatikchhari was wrapped in mourning as three bodies—those of Rubel, Babul, and Osman—arrived together. Villagers who had been preparing to welcome back Rubel’s body instead prepared for the joint burial of all three young men.
“This is more than a tragedy. We were mourning Rubel for a year, and now we have to bury three sons of this soil in one day,” said a grieving relative, struggling to hold back tears.
The entire community has been shaken by the incident. Sunday saw an outpouring of grief as neighbors and relatives gathered to support the bereaved family, who now face a loss too immense for words.