A family has been left with shattered dreams and an unfinished house after the father was killed on the first day of Iran’s missile and drone attacks on the UAE.
Ahmad Ali, 55, of Barlekha in eastern Bangladesh, died when his delivery van was hit by debris from a missile strike in Ajman on February 28, the first day of the Iranian assault.
Mr Ali, a water delivery driver and had worked in the Emirates for 27 years. His son Abdul Hoque told The National from Bangladesh: “My baba [father] said 'bye' to my cousin who stays nearby, saying he would be back soon after delivering water. Not even five minutes after he left, the missile hit near his car and he died right there."
Mr Ali is among six killed in the UAE in the past 13 days during which Iran has fired more than 260 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and more than 1,510 drones into the Emirates.
Better known as Saleh Ahmed in his hometown, Mr Ali was buried in Bangladesh on March 9.
Mr Hoque, 28, the eldest son, says he is unable to console his mother or explain to his younger siblings why his father was killed.
“My mother has not stopped crying, she cries every day,” Mr Hoque said. “My father really worked hard. Why did he die? My siblings don’t understand, I don’t understand. What will we do without him? Our dreams are broken.”
Grief-stricken
A frayed family photograph is among the handful of reminders, showing a proud, smiling father surrounded by four children superimposed on images of a house, a red car and Dubai's Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab landmarks.
When Mr Ali went to Bangladesh on holiday last November, he started building a house – his ambition since he moved to the UAE. With the foundations complete, family members in his homeland had been sending him regular updates on how construction was progressing.
“It was his dream to build a small house,” Mr Hoque said. “We have just started work. Now we will have nothing. Our mind is sad, sick with grief, sadness. He promised us he would come back soon.”
Mr Hoque is the eldest of three brothers, the youngest being 16. They have sister who is a college student. He picks up odd jobs around town and visited the UAE a few years ago when his father tried unsuccessfully to get him a job.
“There is not a job my baba has not done – he worked in a restaurant, a car wash, in construction,” Mr Hoque said. “He would always say good things about people, he had a good heart. He taught us to speak well, respect others.”
Prayer for victims
Since his father’s death, Mr Hoque has been watching news coverage of the continuing Iranian attacks on the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
“I just want to say that the people who died all have families," he said. "There is no one like my baba. I pray that what happened to my father should not happen to anyone.”
Mr Ali is among four Bangladesh citizens killed in Iranian strikes on the Gulf, along with two who died in Saudi Arabia and one in Bahrain.
A control room has been set up in Dhaka by Bangladesh's Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, with a hotline that workers abroad can call for assistance.
Shama Obaed, the incumbent state minister for foreign affairs, said the safety of citizens was the government's top priority.
