Family members of Dhali Al Mamun, the artist who survived the Manikganj crash on Saturday, said they hope to take him to Bangkok tomorrow for treatment since his condition is not improving as expected.
“There are some formalities– air ambulance and the visa process among other things– to be taken care of,” said Syed Iftekher, a relative of Mamun.
“If everything goes well, we will get him admitted to Bangkok General Hospital on August 19,” he said. The government had said it would provide for Mamun’s treatment abroad.
Internationally renowned filmmaker Tareque Masud and eminent media personality Ashfaque Mishuk Munier were among the five killed when a microbus carrying them collided with a passenger bus on Dhaka-Aricha highway on that day. Four others sustained severe injuries.
A professor at the institute of fine arts of Chittagong University, Mamun was left with injuries to the chest and shoulder.
“He [Mamun] is not recovering. His lungs are bleeding and a tube has been inserted Monday night to drain out the blood,” said Iftekher.
Two out of nine broken ribs of Mamun punctured his lungs. The 50-year-old has diabetes and suffers from hypertension.
Doctors said there are fractures in Mamun’s right humerus and mandible as well. Surgeons reconstructed his mandible on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the condition of another survivor of the clash, film production staff Saidul Islam, has improved notably.
He was supposed to get release from Square Hospital yesterday but he had to stay an additional day to gather up the payment of the bills for the wrist surgery he went through on Monday.
Saidul told The Daily Star yesterday, “The communications minister visited me on Sunday and told me that the government would bear the expenses of my treatment. But I haven’t heard from him or anyone else on behalf of the government since then.
“I’ll try to manage the money tomorrow.”
“After a big accident like this, I wish I were dead instead of going through such an expensive treatment.”
Three other survivors of the accident are Catherine Masud, wife of Tareque, Dilara Zaman Jolly, wife of painter Mamun, and Monis Rafique, assistant director of Kagojer Phool, the latest film Tareque was working on.
-With The Daily Star input
