'Searching for my mother is pointless. I saw her burn’: Milestone survivor Zaira recounts horror

Asmaul Husna Zaira, a third-grade student at Milestone School in Dhaka's Diabari, is one of the survivors of the fatal plane jet crash at her campus that left at least 33 people dead and doznes injured.

Although Zaira was fortunate to have survived the dreadful crash, she tragically lost her mother in the ensuing fire that occurred after the plane crash on 21 July. 

The body of Zaira's mother, Lamia Akhter Sonia, was detected through DNA testing and handed over to her family yesterday (24 July). She could not be traced immediately following the incident. 

However, the class-III girl claimed that she witnessed her mother burning in lethal fire, and now it is pointless to look for her [Sonia].

"Why are you looking for my mother? You won't find her. I saw that she was burning in flames, right before my eyes," said Zaira, as quoted by her father Amirul Islam Jony, before the media today (25 July).

Jony said on the fateful day [21 July], Sonia went to Zaira's school to bring her home. Though Zaira was found unharmed, Sonia had been missing following the crash.

"Moments before the incident [plane crash], Sonia sent her daughter to one of her teachers to get a class sheet corrected. Shortly after, the plane crashed, and Sonia died on the spot," he added.

Quoting his daughter, Jony said Sonia died right before the eyes of Zaira. "When we searched for Sonia, Zaira said now it is futile to look for her. "Why are you looking for my mother? It makes no point. I saw that my mother was burning in flames, right before my eyes," Jony quoted Zaira.

Following Sonia's DNA testing, the CID handed over Sonia's body from the Combined Military Hospital yesterday. The body was in a state of dismemberment, said her father, Babul Hossain. 

Sonia was buried at her family graveyard in Bagni Bari area of Birulia union of Savar yesterday night.