Staff Reporter:
The bodies of six of the seven Bangladeshi nationals killed in a devastating hotel fire in Kolkata on August 19 were repatriated to Bangladesh yesterday, according to the foreign ministry.
The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata facilitated the repatriation after completing necessary formalities in close coordination with local authorities and the victims’ families, said a foreign ministry press release issued here yesterday.
The body of S M Alimuzzaman of Satkhira was brought back through the Ghojadanga-Bhomra bor-der this morning and handed over to his family.
The bodies of Debashish Dutta of Kushtia and three members of his family, Afsana Sharmin, Shar-nashish Dutta and Md Akram Ali, were repatriated through the Petrapole-Benapole border this afternoon.
The body of Babu Ahmed of Aminbazar, Dhaka, was also brought back through the same border crossing.
The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission provided necessary assistance to the bereaved families throughout the process, including preservation and transportation of the bodies and completion of formalities for their repatriation.
The body of the seventh Bangladeshi victim, Repati Sarkar of Satkhira, was cremated in Kolkata last night in accordance with the wish of her family.
The Deputy High Commission also extended financial and other necessary assistance in arranging the cremation, the release said.
The fire broke out at a hotel in Kolkata on August 19, killing nine people, including seven Bangla-deshi nationals.
The foreign ministry expressed profound grief over the deaths and conveyed its deepest condo-lences and sympathies to the bereaved families.
