The Crime Desk: The bodies of eight Bangladeshi citizens who died in a boat sinking off the coast of Tunisia while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe will reach the country on Thursday (May 2) at noon.
According to the Facebook post of the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, the coffins are scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on May 2 at 12:30 PM by Saudi Airlines flight.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the mission officials handed over the bodies to the Tunis International Airport Authority on Tuesday in the presence of Major General (retd.) Abul Hasnat Muhammad Khairul Bashar, Bangladesh’s ambassador on non-resident charge to Libya and Tunisia.
The officials of the Bangladesh Embassy in Tripoli worked closely with the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local city authorities in the late night of February 14 to complete the body’s condition, identification, confirmation of identity through local agencies, and issue of death and medical certificates.
Besides, the Africa Wing of the Ministry of External Affairs coordinated the inter-ministerial repatriation of the bodies. The necessary expenditure is being met with the assistance of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Law and the allocation of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment.
Among the eight deceased, Sajal, Nayan Biswas, Mamun Sheikh, Kazi Sajib, and Qaiser Khalifa were residents of Madaripur district, and Rifat, Russell, and Imrul Kayes were residents of Apon Gopalganj district.
When the boat with 52 passengers and a driver on the journey from the Juara coast to Europe sank off the Tunisian coast, 27 Bangladeshis and 8 Pakistanis, 5 Syrians, and 4 Egyptians were rescued out of 44 alive. Among the nine dead, eight were identified as Bangladeshis, and the other was a Pakistani citizen.
