Abul Kalam Azad was the sole breadwinner of his family. His death has left his loved ones in tears and his wife and two young children facing an uncertain future.
The family is struggling to accept the tragedy, and grief has enveloped their village home.
On Sunday, Abul Kalam was killed when a bearing pad from a metro rail pillar fell on him in Dhaka’s Farmgate Station area.
Abul Kalam, son of Jalil Chowkdar and Hanufa Begum, hailed from Ishwarkathi village in Moktarer Char union under Naria upazila of Shariatpur district. The youngest of four brothers and six sisters, he lost both parents around 20 years ago and was raised by his elder siblings.
In 2012, seeking a better life, he travelled to Malaysia for work. Upon returning to Bangladesh in 2018, he married Irene Akter from a nearby village. The couple had two children — a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.
They lived in the Pathantuli area of Narayanganj, where Kalam worked with a travel agency in Dhaka’s Motijheel. He commuted daily between Narayanganj and Dhaka for his job.
Family members said Kalam left Narayanganj for Motijheel on Sunday morning and later went out for work. Around 12:15pm, a bearing pad detached from a metro rail pillar at Farmgate, fatally striking him.
The family learnt of his death through media reports, prompting heart-wrenching scenes as relatives rushed to the site.
At his village home, four tin-roofed houses stood side by side. Kalam’s own house remained locked. His elder brother, Khokon Chowkdar, sat weeping in another room while his sister Selina Begum and other family members broke down in tears. Neighbours gathered to console them.
Relatives said Kalam’s death has left the family without an income. His two small children are now orphans, and the family is worried about how they will survive.
Elder brother Khokon Chowkdar lives in their village home and looks after the family’s land. Last month, Abul Kalam came home, helped his elder brother with some work, and then returned to Dhaka.
Khokon said: “I never thought that would be his last visit. Now he will return as a corpse. Who will look after his wife and children? We are devastated.”
Through sobs, his sister Selina said: “My brother worked hard all his life. His income kept the family running. Who will care for his children now?”
Cousin Ali Ahmed Chowkdar said: “Yesterday he posted on Facebook about wanting to escape life and today he truly did. We are speechless.”
Another cousin, Abdul Gani Mia, said: “If modern metro rail can be this unsafe, how can people move around the city? We demand justice for this negligence.”
Kalam’s childhood friend, Rihinuzzaman, said: “I spoke to him on the phone last night. He said he was doing fine and would visit the village soon. And now he’s gone. It’s unbearable.”
Naria Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Abdul Kaiyum Khan said: “The accident caused by a falling bearing pad from the metro rail pillar is deeply tragic. We are mourning the death of Abul Kalam from Ishwarkathi village.”
He added: “The upazila administration is in touch with his family and the government has assured support. We will stand by them.”
Earlier, the government formed a committee to investigate the cause of the incident at Farmgate and announced Tk500,000 in compensation for Kalam’s family.
Adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges Fouzul Kabir Khan shared the decision with reporters at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital after visiting Kalam’s body on Sunday afternoon.
