"The 33 days in captivity felt like sitting right next to the death’s door."
The dreadful words were spoken by Nazmul Haque Hanif, one of the 23 sailors of the MV Abdullah vessel, who were kept hostage by Somali pirates for 33 days.
After returning to Bangladesh after 67 days, Nazmul visited his hometown in Sirajganj and met his parents.
While hugging them, Nazmul said he thought he would never see his parents or his relatives ever again.
“I used to pray and beg Allah so I can return to my parents. Allah listened to our prayers and we were released from the pirates’ captivity on April 13. Yet, the yearning to see my parents never ceased within me,” he said.
Family members and villagers had gathered at Nazmul’s house just to see a glimpse of him and hear about the horrifying story of the ship’s abduction.
His mother, Nargis Khatun, was seen teary the whole time. She said she used to look at her son’s pictures and look for news to see if there was any update about the ship’s whereabouts.
“My son has returned to me. I cooked all his favourite food. We will eat together today,” she said.
Nazmul’s father, Abu Sama, thanked the Bangladesh government and the ship’s authorities for bringing his son and the 23 other sailors safely to the country.
The 23 sailors of MV Abdullah set foot in Bangladesh on Tuesday.
The lighter ship transporting them docked at the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) in Chittagong Port at 4:20pm.
With emotions running high, the sailors disembarked one by one, greeted by the eager faces of their loved ones, ship owners, and port authority officials who had been anxiously awaiting their arrival at the NCT jetty.
As the sailors stepped onto the jetty, they were enveloped in warm embraces from their relatives, eyes filled with tears of relief and happiness.
The vessel encountered the Somali pirates' attack on March 12 while transporting 55,000 tons of coal from the Maputo port of Mozambique to Al Hamriyah port in the UAE.
The pirates released the ship on April 14 after allegedly receiving a ransom.