Joyous wedding celebration turns tragic as bridge collapse leaves 9 dead, 3 missing

A joyous wedding celebration turned into a heart-wrenching tragedy in Barguna today as a bridge crumbled, plunging a microbus and an easy bike into a canal.

Nine lives, including seven of a family, were lost in the accident, leaving three others missing and feared dead, Haldia Union Parishad Chairman Asaduzzaman Mintu Mallik told The Business Standard.

The microbus and easy bike, carrying relatives and friends of the groom, were on their way to a post-wedding outing when the bridge connecting Chawda and Haldia Haat in Amtali upazila collapsed.

Union parishad member Saiful Islam Swapan said in-laws of bridegroom Saiful Islam Sohag, a doctor, visited the area from Madaripur by a microbus and they, joined by others on an easy bike, went for an outing when the bridge collapsed. Passengers of the easy bike could swim ashore, he said.

Seven of the deceased were from the family of Mahbubur Rahman, cousin of the groom Humaira. They are his daughters Tahia (7) and Tastia (11), mother Farida Begum (40), aunts Munni Begum (40) and Fatema Begum (40), mother-in-law Rumi Begum (40) and sister-in-law Raiti (30).

The other two deceased are Jakia (25) and her daughter Hridi (5).

Fire Service, administration and locals were working to rescue the missing people and the vehicles from the deep canal until filing of the report at 9:00pm today.