Prayers as first Al Ain's 24 bus crash victims are sent home

Fellow Bangladeshis stand with Mohammed Idrees who lost two sons in the Al Ain road accident. Charles Crowell / The National

AL AIN // Hundreds of Bangladeshis gathered in front of Al Ain Hospital mortuary yesterday to perform funeral prayers for victims of last Monday's road crash.
The Bangladeshi Embassy was due to send the bodies of seven of the 19 Bangladeshis killed in Monday's crash back to Chittagong early this morning. The remaining 12 will be sent on Tuesday.
They were all employees of Al Hakeem Decoration, as were the Indian and the Egyptian men also killed when the company bus they were travelling in was struck by a lorry on Al Ain Truck Road.
Among the grieving crowd outside the hospital was Mohammed Idrees, 60. Both his sons, Khursheedul Alam, 25, and Masoodul Alam Rana, 19, died in the crash.
"I have no words to say now, nothing left with me," said Mr Idrees, who has lived in the UAE for 30 years. "I had two sons and I lost both of them." He will return to Bangladesh with the bodies.
Mohammed Hannan, who has lived in the UAE for three years, lost his brother, Burhanuddin, 27. "I have no words," he said. "I am so traumatised. My parents are old. He was very active person among all three brothers." He will accompany his brother's body home to their waiting parents in Chittagong.
Mahmoodul Hassan lost his 23-year-old nephew, Mohammed Aarif, 23, who had worked for Al Hakeem for three years.
"My sister had only one son, which she lost in the accident," he said. "My parents and the sister are incessantly weeping and crying. They have gone insane since they heard the news."
Sikandar Reda's uncle, Sirajul Islam, 45, was also killed, leaving a daughter, 6, and a son, 11.
"I don't know how his wife is going to cope," Mr Reda said.
Noorul Alam's son-in-law, Mohammed Alaudding, 38, also died. "Now daughter does not have anybody to support her and she has two sons. She is highly grieved."
Latiful Haq Kazmi, counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy, said all repatriation charges would be borne by the Ministry of Interior, which had also promised to provide bereaved families with financial assistance.
He said he hoped the men's families would receive Dh200,000 each in compensation.
 
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