Bodies of two crew of the Bangladeshi vessel MV Hope arrived in the country on Thursday seven months after the carrier sank off the Thailand coast.
Bodies of second engineer Mohammad Nizamuddin and oiler Ali Hossain arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, an official said.
Interport Maritime Limited Chief Executive Officer Mohiuddin Kader told the Dhaka Tribune the bodies arrived via air.
“We have handed over the bodies to their family at 4pm,” he said adding that local fishermen recovered the bodies off Malaysian coast on July 20.
The bodies had decomposed and could not be identified immediately, he said. “The bodies were sent to Bangladesh after confirmation through DNA test.”
Mohammed Zakaria, son of Ali Hossain, told the Dhaka Tribune he was taking the body to their village home at around 7pm.
Cargo vessel MV Hope tilted off the Phuket coast of Thailand at the Andaman Sea while on its way to Malaysia from Chittagong port on July 4.
Seventeen crews on-board were compelled to jump into the sea. Nine were rescued alive and the bodies of two others were found later. Six are still missing.