Bodies of 8 Bangladeshis drowned off Tunisian coast arrive

The bodies of eight Bangladeshi citizens who died in a fire on a boat in February, which later sank off the coast of Tunisia, while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, arrived at Dhaka airport today (2 May).

According to FlightAware, the Saudi Airlines' SV808 carrying the bodies landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:49am.

Airport police said the bodies have been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue. Autopsies will take place on Friday.

Among the deceased, Sajal, Noyon Biswas, Mamun Sheikh, Kazi Sajib, and Kaiser Khalifa were residents of Madaripur district, while Rifat, Russel, and Imrul Kayes were from Gopalganj.

Relatives of the deceased, waiting at the airport, said middlemen forced the men in small boats and led them to death.

They said 52 people were crammed onto a small boat meant for 30. The eight victims were confined below deck, struggling for air due to overcrowding. 

Despite their pleas, the men were beaten and forced back below deck, leading to their tragic deaths from torture and suffocation, said the relatives.

At least nine people, including eight Bangladeshis, died when a boat carrying 52 migrants of different nationalities to Europe sank in the sea off the Tunisian coast following a fire accident on 15 February, according to the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya.

Among the 44 rescued, 27 were Bangladeshis, 8 Pakistanis, 5 Syrians, and 4 Egyptians.

Case filed, two brokers arrested

Victim Sajal Bairagi's father, Sunil Bairagi, filed a case at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport police station on 19 April.

Two suspects were arrested in the case. The case was filed under sections 302/34 of the Penal Code and the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, and the arrests were made within two days, read a press release of BRAC Migration Program on Thursday.

In the case documents, Sunil Bairagi alleged that his son Sajal Bairagi wanted to go to Italy in hopes of a better life. Sajal's acquaintances, Yubraj Kazi, 24, and Mosharof Kazi, who resides in Libya, offered to send him to Italy legally in exchange for Tk14 lakh.

Sajal Bairagi and his family agreed to this proposal. With mutual consent, Sajal gave Tk2.5 lakh and his passport to Yubraj Kazi at his home in Gopalganj.

He was taken to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on 30 December. Before entering the airport, Yubraj Kazi took an additional Tk5 lakh in cash from Sajal.

He left for Dubai at 6am on 31 December. On 8 January, Sajal's father, Sunil, went to Yubraj's home in Gopalganj and handed over another Tk6.5 lakh.

However, Sunil has not been able to contact his son since then.

He later learned through social media that Sajal was among the eight Bangladeshis who died in the boat accident off the Tunisian coast.

Sunil alleged that a group of 20 people, through mutual conspiracy, lured the eight dead Bangladeshi citizens with the promise of a better life and trafficked them illegally from the country to abroad in exchange for a large sum of money.

"Knowing they were sending them to certain death, they put them on a small boat in turbulent seas and caused their deaths by sinking them into the water," he said.

Sabbir Kaji, elder cousin of one of the deceased of Madaripur, Sajib Kaji told TBS, "My cousin had to endure torture by middlemen in Libya, including deprivation of food, imprisonment alongside numerous others, and psychological torment. During that time, the middlemen received Tk10 lakh from us in two phases."