'We hoped we would return home'

Neighbours and relatives were gathering at 'Ekhanai Nongor', a house in Narkeltala of Satkhira town. The family seemed to be delighted, even more than it had been Eid. Monsurul Amin Khan, who survived the missile attack on the Bangladeshi vessel 'Banglar Samriddhi' at Alvia port of Ukraine, returned home at around 10:00pm on Wednesday.

When he arrived, his parents, wife and children burst into tears, tears of joy.

Salman Sarwar is another one of the lucky persons. From Sitakunda of Chattogram, he was the fourth engineer of Banglar Samriddhi. He burst into tears seeing family after landing at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram.

Out of 29 sailors of Banglar Samriddhi, a vessel of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, one sailor has been killed in missile attack. After evacuation, 28 sailors returned home.

Prothom Alo correspondents talked to two sailors on Thursday.

Assistant captain Monsurul Amin Khan said, "We were alarmed by the huge explosion at around 5:00pm on 2 March. Although we made an effort to douse the fire, we lost our fellow sailor. We had to return home leaving him dead."

"That was a devastating scene. There was death and loud noise all around. The sky was filled with smoke. I contacted my family through phone messages, but were were filled with panic and a sense of hopelessness," Mosurul Amin said.

He continued, "We ate dry food. We had a hope that we would return home. I thanked all for our return home with the help of the government, the shipping corporation and Romanian embassy."

Monsurul Amin's father Nurul Amin Khan, a former BADC officer, and mother Marzina Khanam said they were thrilled to get their son back.

They said they got back their son because of the love and affection of the people.

Monsurul's wife Ashruka Sultana and three children-Fahimi, Farhan and Fardin were happy beyond description. They said the last few days were like over a decade.

Salman Sarwar is from Bhatiari village of Bhatiari union in Sitakunda. Father Mahfuzul Haque is a retired teacher. Mother Chemon Ara is a senior teacher at Bhatiari Haji TAC High School.

While describing the incident, Salman said he was on 'C' deck. After Asr prayers, he was going to his room. The entire ship shook in a big bang. It had obviously been attacked. They were anxious to see where the attack was carried out. Someone said the bridge was burning. Within a moment, all danger alarms were ringing. They hurriedly climbed on the bridge to extinguish fire. Despite fear of more attacks, it was urgent for them to put out fire.

Salman said their third engineer Hadisur Rahman climbed on the bridge to talk over the phone just one minute before the attack. They found the body of Hadisur at 9:00pm when the fire was doused. The sailors then burst into tears. They held his janaza on the ship. They kept the body in a freezer.

Salman said he left Bangladesh by a flight to join Banglar Samriddhi on 19 February. At that time the ship was in a port of Turkey. He reached Turkey on 20 February and joined Banglar Samriddhi. Afterward the ship left for Ukraine. The ship was at Alvia port in Ukraine from 24 February. The ship came under attack within a week.

Salman's mother Chemon Ara Begum said, "I am very grateful to the prime minister as she returned my son. We pray for her."

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print and online editions, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.