Hridoy and Riya Moni, a newlywed couple, lost a parent each after a girder of the Bus Rapid Transit project fell on and crushed their car in Uttara, Dhaka, on Monday.
Five people – Riya’s mother Fahima Akhtar, her aunt Jhorna and Jhorna’s two children, and Hridoy’s father Rubel Hasan – died in the accident, but the couple somehow survived the tragedy.
They were on their way to attend the newlyweds’ reception in Ashulia from Dakshin Khan, according to family members.
Hridoy and Riya managed to get out of the vehicle after the 80-ton girder fell on it, but they could not save the others.
They were admitted to a hospital in Uttara on Monday and discharged the next morning, reports Bangla Tribune.
“There was a festive mood in our house because of my son’s wedding. We were on our way to the reception, but now I have lost my husband,” Hridoy’s mother Amena Begum lamented.
Fahima and Jhorna’s brother Afran Mondal filed a case against the crane operator lifting the girder, the contracting firm China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC), and on-site safety officials over the incident, at Uttara West police station in the early hours of Tuesday.
The police were trying to arrest the accused, Uttara West police station OC Mohammad Mohsin said.
The tragic incident occurred on Jashimuddin Road in Uttara at around 4:30pm on Monday, leaving Rubel, 60, Fahima, 40, Jhorna, 28, and her two children Jannat, 6, and Zakaria, 2, dead on the spot. Hridoy and Riya, who got married on Saturday, were the only survivors.
But so shocked are the newlyweds over the incident that they are hardly saying anything to anyone.
The crane became unsteady while carrying the 80-ton girder, tilted to one side and dropped the girder on the car, crushing the vehicle in the process, according to witnesses.
Meanwhile, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam, during a visit to the accident spot, said the construction work of the BRT-3 Elevated Expressway would remain suspended until all necessary safety measures had been ensured.
