Grief grips Kushtia villages after tragic bus accident at Daulatdia

A day after a bus plunged into the river at Daulatdia Ferry Terminal, silence and sorrow have settled over four Kushtia villages, where grieving families buried their loved ones, including two children.

The air in Mojompur, Khagrabaria, Dhushundu, and Somospur was thick with the cries of relatives on Thursday.

The death toll from the accident rose to 26.

The Khoksa Upazila was hit hardest, losing three residents in the disaster.

Among them were 3-year-old Israfil, identified with a single name, and 13-year-old Ayesha Siddika..

In Khagrabaria of Khoksa Upazila, the family of Rajib Biswas, 28, performed his last rites in a somber ceremony.

The sight of the children’s small caskets drew hundreds of villagers, many of whom broke down in tears during the funeral prayers.

According to Khoksa Police chief Mosharraf Hossain, the burials and funeral rites for all three local victims were completed by Thursday morning.

In the Jugia village of Kushtia Sadar, neighbours gathered Thursday to pay their final respects to Morjina Khatun, 56.

The wife of Abu Bakkar Siddique from Mojompur, Morjina was among the six passengers who originally boarded the bus at Kumarkhali.

Her Janaza was held at 10:30am before she was buried in her family graveyard.

The Showhardo Paribahan bus had departed Kumarkhali at 2:30pm on Wednesday with only six passengers.

It stopped at the Khoksa counter to pick up eight more before heading toward the Padma River crossing.

What was meant to be a routine trip to the capital turned into a nightmare at the Daulatdia ghat when the vehicle rolled into the river.

While some managed to escape, the four from Kushtia could not be saved.

Local representatives and villagers remained at the homes of the deceased throughout Thursday, offering condolences to families whose lives were upended in a matter of seconds at the ferry terminal.