'I saw the plane landing and catching fire'
Shocked relatives of US-Bangla plane crash victims are eagerly waiting to receive the dead bodies of their near and dear ones two days into the tragic plane crash in Nepal.
A total of 51 passengers including 26 Bangladeshis died in the plane crash of US-Bangla aircraft (BS 211) at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday afternoon.
The bodies have now been kept at the morgue of Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital.
A number of relatives with placards with names of their near and dear ones were standing in front of the hospital morgue.
One of them was grandfather of co-pilot Prithula Rashid, also waiting in front of the morgue.
"I do not know when I would receive the dead body of Prithula," said the grim-faced elderly man.
Nepali woman Urmila, mother of Sylhet Rageeb-Rabeya Medical College student Shretha Thapa, was standing with placard of her daughter's name and wailing continuously.
"I was waiting at the airport for my daughter's arrival. I saw the plane landing and catching fire... I do not know when I will get the dead body," she said when this author approached her.
Deceased Alimuzzaman's relative Faruk Ahmed said, "There is no certainty of receiving the dead body. Nobody can tell the exact date."
A total of 26 Bangladeshis, 24 Nepalese and a Chinese citizen died in the accident.
The relatives fear it will take time to receive the dead bodies. The authorities said the dead bodies will be handed over after carrying out autopsies, chemical test and DNA test.
The DNA test is being conducted to ascertain the citizenship and gender.
Bangladesh civil aviation and tourism minister AKM Shajahan Kamal visited the hospital morgue.
During the visit, head of the forensic department of the hospital Promoth Sherestha told the minister that autopsies of the dead bodies will be conducted soon. The identities of the bodies will be ascertained and later the bodies will be handed over to the family members, Sherestha added.
*This report is rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.