Families of Al Ain bus crash victims receive long-awaited blood money

Thirty months after the country's deadliest bus crash, in Al Ain, compensation has been given to the families of 16 of the men who died.

Mohamed Nizam Dullah, whose brother-in-law, Sirajul Islam, was killed in the Al Ain crash. Satish Kumar / The National

ABU DHABI // Thirty months after the deadliest bus crash in the country, compensation has been paid to families in Bangladesh, bringing their financial ordeal to an end.

In April, Al Ain Court handed over a Dh3.2 million cheque to the Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi, which transferred it to the Bangladesh ministry of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment a month later.

In July, the families received word of their payment.

Sixteen were awarded Dh200,000 by Al Ain court as blood money. Others filed cases on their own last year.

On February 4, 2013, the bus crash in Al Ain killed 21 workers – 19 Bangladeshis, one Indian and one Egyptian.

Each family member who lost their breadwinner received Bangladeshi taka 4.2 million (Dh200,000), plus a year’s worth of their salaries, a huge amount for a poor family.

Mosammat Monirun Nessa, 37, wife of Shirajul Islam, said: “We received 4.3 million Bangladeshi taka on July 13 and we are extremely thankful to the UAE for supporting our small children.”

Ms Nessa who has two children, Mohammed 13 and Meherun 8, said: “I have divided the money equally among three of us and deposited in the children’s bank accounts. Though, the children will be able to withdraw the money when they are 18 and until then I would finance all their expenses, including education.”

Ms Nessa was prepared to take her children out of school because of their financial problems.

“We will be getting good interest from these accounts and we would spend that and save money for the better future of our children,” Ms Nessa said.

Others who have been supporting their relatives for two-and-a-half years also expressed their satisfaction on delivery of the cash.

Mohamed Nizam Dullah, who lost his brother-in-law in the bus crash, said the payout appeared to be an Eid Al Fitr gift.

After a long wait, poor families received the assistance from the UAE as they lost their breadwinners, he said.

“Each family has received over Bangladeshi taka 4.2 million excluding salaries, though with salaries it would have amounted approximately 4.3 million taka,” Mr Dullah said.

All families were handed cheques in full to claim the money through their bank accounts, he said.

“For the past two years I have been supporting my sister and her children’s all kinds of expenses including school fees but now I am also relaxed since help reached to them,” said Mr Dullah, who lives in Al Ain.

The Bangladesh embassy also thanked The National for following the story closely since the day of the incident on February 2013 until the money reached the families.

Arman Ullah Chowdhury, labour counsellor at the Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi, said families have received compensation.

“They got the money before Eid Al Fitr. We are very happy that they received the money and the embassy’s efforts bore fruits.”

“Yes, each family member who lost their breadwinners have received almost 4.3 million Bangladeshi taka,” the diplomat said.

As the families filed their cases through the embassy they did not have to pay lawyers fees and nothing has been deducted from their payout, he said.

“So, it’s a very good thing that families came to us,” Mr Chowdhury said.