Family’s joyous trip turns into tragedy

What was meant to be a long-awaited family getaway to the sea turned into an unbearable tragedy within moments.

Uday Patwari, 43, a resident of Chandishakara village in Chauddagram Municipality of Cumilla and an employee of Malaysian Airlines, had been planning a family trip to Cox’s Bazar for months. 

After years abroad, he wanted to spend time with his loved ones – his wife, young son, mother, and in-laws – to make up for lost moments.

On Tuesday night, November 4, Uday set off from their Uttara home in Dhaka with his wife Farzana Majumder Liza, 28, son Samad, 4, sister-in-law Farhana Majumder Tiza, 25, and brother-in-law Shahed Majumder Lishan, 22, in a rented microbus. 

Later, his mother Rumi Begum, 65, sister Sadia Akter Patwari, 24, and mother-in-law Rizwana Majumder Shilpi, 55, joined the group from Cumilla, all bound for the beach town that symbolises joy for so many Bangladeshis.

But as dawn approached, at around 2:45 am, fate intervened cruelly. When their microbus reached the Dhala area of Phansiakhali in Chakaria, on the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway, it collided head-on with a passenger bus coming from the opposite direction.

Five members of the family – Farzana, Rizwana, Farhana, Rumi, and Sadia – died instantly. The rest, including Uday and the driver, were critically injured.

“The family had rented a microbus for a joyful trip to Cox’s Bazar,” said Abdul Mannan Majumder, Uday’s father-in-law, his voice breaking. “That happiness turned into heartbreak. In one night, our entire family was shattered.”

Malumghat Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mehedi Hasan confirmed the accident, saying, “A bus of Marsa Paribahan bound for Chittagong collided with the microbus heading toward Cox’s Bazar. The impact was devastating. Five people died on the spot, and several others are in critical condition.”

Local residents and members of the army rushed to the scene, rescuing the injured and taking them to hospitals in Chakaria.

Back in Chauddagram, grief has enveloped the entire community. What began as a joyful family reunion has ended in unspeakable sorrow – a reminder of how fragile life is on the country’s perilous highways.