US-Bangla air crash: Bodies of 23 Bangladeshis to be taken back home today

KATHMANDU, March 19: The bodies of 23 Bangladeshis, killed in the US-Bangla plane crash, will be taken back home on Monday. The identification process of the bodies was completed on Saturday.

A cargo plane of Bangladhes Air Force will carry the bodies to Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka today afternoon, according to General Manager of US-Bangla Airlines, Kamrul Islam.

At least 49 people were killed when theUS-Bangla aircraft Flight UBG 211/BS crashed while landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport on March 12.

The plane was carrying 71 people, including four cabin crew. Of the passengers, 36 were from Bangladesh, 33 from Nepal and one each from China and the Maldives.

Among the dead, 26 were Bangladeshis, 22 Nepali and the other was Chinese. The bodies of the Nepali and Chinese were already handed over to their relatives on Saturday.

Kamrul said the bodies of 23 Bangladeshis were identified until yesterday. The remaining three bodies – Alifuzzaman, Mohammad Nazrul Islam and Pias Roy – could be identified today, he added.

Before they are carried home, namaz-e-janaza for the 23 Bangladeshis was held on the premises of Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu today morning.

Meanwhile, Shahin Bepari, one of the 10 injured Bangladeshis, was flown back home on Saturday.

Shahin and five others are undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, while two were sent to Singapore for better treatment, one – Eakub Ali – will be taken to Apollo Hospital in New Delhi today, and the other, Kabir Hossain, will be taken back home today.