Some were wailing, some were giving vacant look and some were on their knees in front of the graves of their near and dear ones who died several months ago in the worst building collapse in Bangladesh history. A pall of gloom descended at Jorain Graybeard in the capital on Thursday morning when the relatives of the dead ready-made garment workers whose bodies were identified through DNA tests gathered at the site.
According to the government officials, 322 unclaimed bodies of Rana Plaza were buried there, but only 157 workers were so far identified after DNA testing at Dhaka Medical College recently.
After more than six months of the tragic building collapse, the family members of 30 deceased workers detected their graves.
Safiuddin, father of deceased Morzina, became motionless finding the grave of her beloved daughter. He was sitting there touching the grave of his daughter.
Talking to The Independent, he said,” Now I have nothing to seek from Almighty Allah. I have found the grave of my mother, this is the best gift of my painful life.”
“Even, I have no demand for compensation after I found the grave,” the old man said in a chocked voice.
His another daughter Rozina was also injured in the Rana Plaza building collapse. She was rescued alive, but that cost her left hand, he told this correspondent.
Like Saifuddin, Shafinur Begum also found the grave of her beloved daughter. The volunteers of Bangladesh Garments Sromik Songhoti, a RMG workers organisation, showed the woman the grave of her daughter. ‘Oh! Allah, please take care my daughter,” the poor old woman said. At one stage Shafinur became fainted.
But all were not lucky like Safiuddin and Shafinur. Though after the DNA test, the body of garment worker Shahidul was identified, her wife Khadija grave could not be found at Jorain Graveyard.
According to the DNA test result, Shahidul was buried at No-8 grave but neither she, nor the graveyard authority could find the particular grave.
Talking to The Independent, Rasel Ahmed, official of Bangladesh Garments Sromik Songhoti said,” They brought families of 40 identified victims to Jorain Grabyeard in the city in a bid to help them locate the graves of their deceased relatives. Among them, 30 graves were identified.”
He said, DNA samples were collected from 570 families, but later after verifying the lists, the authority published 322 names as unclaimed bodies of the workers.
However, the authorities officially said that only 291 unclaimed bodies were buried at Jorain Graybeard.
According to the government officials, there were 379 workers listed as missing, but relatives claimed that the number is more than 540.
-With The Independent input
