‘What will this Tk 5 lakh do? This can never be compensation for a human life’

"This is not death, it's murder. This happened due to the negligence of the Dhaka Metro Rail authorities. Compensation or a job will not suffice. Those responsible must be punished through a proper investigation," Irene Akhter Priya, wife of Abul Kalam Azad, 35, who was killed earlier today after a metro rail bearing pad fell on him in Farmgate, told The Daily Star.

She was at Tejgaon Police Station in Dhaka.

She said their son is four years old, and their daughter is three. "Our children have lost their father. How can you compensate for this loss?"

Tejgaon Police Station's Sub-Inspector (SI) Ikhtiar Hossain said the deceased was from the Ishwarkathi area of Naria upazila in Shariatpur. He worked at a travel agency in Dhaka's Uttara. His family lives in Chashara area of Narayanganj.

Azad's brother-in-law, Sohag Ahmed, said, "Azad was in Malaysia for some time. He got married six years ago and did not go back to Malaysia after that."

The harrowing incident happened around 12:30pm today when a bearing pad of the metro rail station fell on him in Dhaka's Farmgate.

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Azad's body was found between Metro Rail pillars 432 and 433. Two more people were injured in the incident.

Meanwhile, talking to our Shariatpur correspondent, the victim's brother, Abdul Gani Chowkdar, said, "I heard that an adviser of the interim government announced Tk 5 lakh as compensation for Azad's death. What will this Tk 5 lakh do? This can never be compensation for a human life."

He said his brother was carrying a passport that helped identify him.

"Azad was a student of Jagannath University. Since he worked at a travel agency, he commuted regularly from Narayanganj to Farmgate. Besides that, he was involved in other small contractual works."

"My brother has a four-year-old son named Mohammad Abdullah and a three-year-old daughter named Suraiya Akhter. Now his family has become helpless. Who will take care of these two children? Their future has become uncertain," he added.

"Through journalists, I would make one request to the government: please ensure a good future for Azad's children. The government must take their responsibility," he said.