Barguna, Oct 03 (V7N) – A Bangladeshi migrant worker from Barguna died after being buried under soil while working in Saudi Arabia, leaving his impoverished family struggling to raise money to bring his body home.
Ismail Hossain, 40, from Ward 4 of Badarkhali Union in Barguna Sadar upazila, was killed in a soil collapse near Riyadh airport on Thursday afternoon, according to his family.
His relatives said they need around 8,500 Saudi riyals, equivalent to about Tk 3 lakh, to repatriate his body to Bangladesh.
Ismail, the eldest of three brothers, went to Saudi Arabia on a worker visa on Jan 5, 2025, after borrowing around Tk 5 lakh to cover the cost of migration. He had been unable to secure a suitable job in Bangladesh and hoped to improve his family's financial condition by working abroad.
After initially remaining unemployed in Saudi Arabia, he later secured a job through a relative with a Chinese company operating near Riyadh airport.
His family said he had managed to ease some of their financial hardship after finding work but had not yet been able to repay the full amount borrowed to go abroad.
According to his family, Ismail was working in a deep trench for a pipeline near Riyadh airport at around 3pm Bangladesh time on Thursday when the soil suddenly collapsed, burying him underneath. He died at the scene.
News of the accident reached his family in Bangladesh around 5pm.
Ismail's death has left his elderly parents, wife and four-year-old son facing severe financial hardship. He had been married to Sonia Begum for eight years.
Sonia said she spoke to her husband every morning and had talked to him on Thursday as well.
“He told me he would call again around noon. When he did not call even after the afternoon began, I contacted his co-workers. Around 4pm, they told me that Ismail had been involved in an accident,” she said.
She said the family had been told that around Tk 3 lakh would be required to bring his body back to Bangladesh.
“We cannot afford such an amount because of our financial hardship. I appeal to the government to arrange for my husband's body to be brought home,” she said.
Ismail's father, Amjad Hossain, said his eldest son had gone to Saudi Arabia after borrowing money in the hope of improving the family's life.
“He wanted to earn money and bring some happiness to our family. But everything has been destroyed by the soil collapse,” he said.
“We have nothing left. Now we do not even have the money to bring our son's body home. I humbly appeal to the government to arrange for his body to be brought back so that we can bury him in his homeland,” he added.
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