The night before Rashed Sardar left for Dhaka on a bus of Emad Paribahan from Khulna, two of his daughters -- nine-year-old Safa and five-year-old Sara -- requested him to bring them dresses for the Eid.

But little did they know that would be the last time their father would be leaving home.

A Dhaka-bound Emad paribahan bus coming from Khulna's Fultala bus stand fell into a ditch on the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway this morning, leaving their father along with 18 others dead. It had 43 passengers onboard

Rashed was an official of Dutch-Bangla Bank's head office in Dhaka. He got on the bus to return to work after attending the death anniversary of his sister-in-law on Friday.

He was the son of Asmat Ali of Shakhipur area in Debhata upazila under Satkhira.

"They had asked their father to bring them red clothes and dolls. Otherwise, they said they would not talk to him. Now it is a reality that their father would never talk to them," Shafiqul Islam, Rashed's father-in-law, told The Daily Star.

He urged the authorities to take steps to stop reckless driving on roads.

Highway Police suspected that speeding, the driver's drowsiness or faulty tyres may have led to the accident.