Family members of Hadisur Rahman, the Bangladeshi sailor killed in a missile attack on the Ukrainian port of Olvia, have pleaded to the government to bring his body back to the country as soon as possible.
Hadisur, from Betagi upazila in Barguna, was one of 29 sailors who became trapped on the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) vessel Banglar Samriddhi when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February. He was killed when a missile hit the vessel on March 2.
The 28 surviving crew members were later evacuated to Romania and arrived in Dhaka from Bucharest yesterday morning. However, Hadisur’s body remains preserved in a bunker near Ukraine and will be brought back later.
Hadisur’s family had rushed to Dhaka airport when the Turkish Airlines flight carrying the sailors landed. When they realized his body had not been brought back, many of them broke into tears.
Family Hadisur Rahamn Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune"I want my brother back. Everyone is back now, but where is my brother? All our dreams have been shattered," said Golam Mawla Prince, younger brother of Hadisur Rahman, and Tarkiqul Islam.Their father Md Razzak, visibly distraught, said: “Bring back my son. Please bring him back.”
Hadisur’s mother Amena Begum refused to leave the airport even though she knew her son would not return alive.
The Banglar Samriddhi had been chartered by the Danish company Delta Corporation. The ship arrived at an Ukrainian port on February 22 from Mumbai, India, via Turkey.
The ship was scheduled to sail to the Italian port of Ravenna on February 24 with cement clay. When the war broke out between Russia and Ukraine on February 23, the ship became stranded.
Hadisur was the ship’s third engineer.
The sailors were evacuated to Romania on March 6.