Five More Bodies of Saudi Arabia Fire Victims to Arrive on Saturday

The bodies of five more workers from Naogaon who died in a fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on Saturday. The information was announced in a notice signed by Muhammad Reza-e Rabbi, counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh, on Thursday, October 29.

According to the notice, 16 Bangladeshi workers died in a fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh on August 9. The bodies of nine victims were sent to Bangladesh on August 27. The identities of the remaining seven victims have since been confirmed through DNA tests, and all formalities for sending their bodies to Bangladesh have been completed.

The bodies will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:05am on Saturday on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG 336. The five victims from Naogaon are Shahin, son of Majnu Rahman of Par Naogaon in Naogaon town; Hasibul Hasan Shuvo, son of Nazmul Huda of Dubai village in Atrai Upazila; Minhaj Pramanik, son of Akkas Pramanik of Madhyaboalia village in the same upazila; Masidul Sardar Sajib, son of Majnu Sardar of Madhabpur village; and Sagar Ali, son of Azhar Ali of Sadhannagar village.

Atrai Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Moniruzzaman said the administration was maintaining regular contact with the bereaved families. He added that arrangements were being made in coordination with the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board to bring the bodies home as quickly as possible.

He said the bodies of the five remaining victims from Naogaon would arrive in Bangladesh. Four of them were from Atrai Upazila, while the other was from Naogaon Sadar. Citing the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, the UNO further said that although 13 deaths were initially reported from Atrai Upazila following the Saudi factory fire, the identities of 11 victims from Atrai and one from Naogaon Sadar have now been confirmed. Earlier, on August 27, the bodies of seven of the 11 identified victims from Atrai were brought back to Bangladesh.