Overcome with grief after losing his younger sister Sayma Akter in an air force jet crash at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara, Sabbir Hossain, who had just cleared his SSC exams this year from the same institute, broke down in tears before her burial in Gazipur on Tuesday.
“You were my heart, you were my life. Every day we went to school together. Now who will I go with? Why did you leave me? I cannot live without you,” wailed Sabbir while wiping his tears beside her lifeless body.
Nine-year-old Syama, a third-grader at Milestone School and College, lost her life in the jet crash a day ago.
Sabbir recalled memories of his younger sister in tears, expressing the unbearable pain of losing her.
Syama’s father Shah Alam, a resident of Bipra Bartha village in Ward 21 of Gazipur City Corporation, lives in Uttara with his family and works at the PRAN-RFL company.
He recounted: “A friend called to inform me that a plane had crashed into a Milestone School and College building in Uttara. After hearing the news, I rushed to the school and searched all day, but could not find her. Around 8pm, I came to know her body was at CMH.
“Just the night before, my daughter had hugged me while falling asleep. She kissed me countless times—I cannot even count. I never spoke to her again after that. My daughter will never sleep hugging me again. How will I bear this pain?”
Syama’s mother Rina Begum shared in tears how she took her daughter to school every day — except the morning of the crash, when her brother took Syama instead.
As the little girl left home, she cheerfully said: “Mom, I am going to school, bye-bye.”
Rina never imagined those would be her final words.
Syama, who dreamt of becoming a doctor to help others, died in the tragic plane crash.
Rina learned of her daughter’s death through Facebook, and now neighbours gather to console a mother shattered by unimaginable loss.
Earlier on Monday night, Syama’s body was brought home to Bipra Bartha in Gazipur. Her funeral was held the next morning at a local mosque, followed by burial in the family courtyard.