Lohagara tragedy: A family lost on the highway
Locals demand expanding the highway from two to four lanes
It was meant to be a joyful escape – a family trip to the sea during the Eid holidays. The microbus rolled out of Dhaka with laughter, chatter, and dreams of Cox's Bazar.
But on a quiet stretch of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Highway in Lohagara's Chunati Jangalia, everything changed in an instant.
A head-on collision with a Relax Paribahan bus shattered the journey and the family inside. Among the dead were Rafiqul Islam Shamim, his wife Lutfun Nahar Shumi, daughters Liana (8) and Anisha (14), and niece Tanifa Yasmin. They died on the spot.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
And then there was Tasnia Islam Prema – Rafiqul's eldest daughter. Eighteen years old, full of promise, and the last living member of the family. She was pulled from the wreckage barely alive, her brain critically injured.
For three days, she lay unconscious in the ICU of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH). Her family hoped. Her doctors tried. But Prema never woke up.
On Friday at noon, she was gone.
"God didn't even leave us the last hope," wept her aunt Jesmin Rahman, who had stayed by her side through the silent hours. "Why take every single one of them?"
Md Saiful, head of Neurosurgery, said Prema's brain never responded. Dr Harun-or-Rashid, head of ICU, added, "We did everything we could."
The trip hadn't even been part of the original plan. The family, who lived in Mirpur, Dhaka, had intended to visit their ancestral home in Pirojpur for Eid. But in a last-minute change, they joined a colleague's family for the beach instead.
On Tuesday night, Rafiqul had made a video call to relatives, smiling and sharing Eid greetings. It became his final farewell.
Others in the microbus who died in the crash included Dilip Biswas, his wife Sadhana Mondal, her father Ashish Mondal, and family friend Mukhtar Hossain. The driver, Yusuf Ali, was also killed.
One small child survives – Aradhya Biswas, daughter of Dilip and Sadhana. Just six years old, she suffered fractured legs and internal injuries. She has been moved to Square Hospital in Dhaka for specialised care.
"She's in ICU," said relative Asit Kumar Baroi. "Doctors are running tests. We're just praying she makes it."
Another survivor, Durjoy Mondal, is still under treatment at CMCH.
With Prema's death, the official toll rose to 11. But the numbers don't capture the loss – an entire family erased.
In an immediate response to the accidents claiming 15 lives during the Eid holidays at the highway's Chunati-Jangalia area, speed breakers have been installed there, which locals find an imprudent action.
While the installed rumble strips will slow down vehicles, it might lead to increased risk of robbery on the highway, they say, adding that the area is very solitary.
Instead, they demanded expanding the highway from two lanes to four lanes.
