Bangladeshi woman, two children killed in Saudi road crash while travelling for Umrah

A Bangladeshi woman and two of her children were killed in a road accident in Saudi Arabia while travelling to perform Umrah. Her husband and another son were injured in the crash, which occurred on Thursday about 200 kilometres from the capital, Riyadh.

The deceased have been identified as Tania Tahmina, 45, her second son Tajbik, 19, and daughter Sadaf, 15. Her husband, Shafiqul Islam, 55, and their eldest son, Nabil, 24, were injured.

Shafiqul Islam works in Saudi Arabia. His ancestral home is in Bhairab upazila of Kishoreganj, while his wife and children lived in Uttara, Dhaka. The four family members had travelled to Saudi Arabia to visit him. According to relatives, they were on their way to perform Umrah when the accident occurred.

Tania Tahmina’s family home is in Putia village of Atghar Union in Saltha upazila, Faridpur. Her late father, Nazimuddin Molla, was a former chairman of Atghar union parishad.

Tania’s brother, Touhid Mohammad Murad, said it took several hours for the family to receive confirmation of the tragedy because the accident site was about 200 kilometres from Riyadh. A relative needed nearly three hours to reach the location, and the family was able to confirm the incident at around 5:30 pm on Thursday.

Murad said his nephew Tajbik had recently been admitted to a university in Finland and was scheduled to fly there in about a week. Before his departure, the family had planned to perform Umrah together.

Regarding the burial, Murad said the family has decided not to bring the bodies back to Bangladesh because the victims died while travelling to perform Umrah. Following funeral prayers on Friday afternoon, they will be laid to rest in Saudi Arabia.