Thirteen-year-old Ayesha Siddika, a hafiza of the 18th Para of the Quran, died in the tragic bus accident at Daulatdia ferry ghat in Rajbari on Wednesday. She had boarded a Souhardya Paribahan bus from Kushtia’s Kumar Khali counter with her family.
Ayesha went missing when the bus sank in the Padma River. Later, her body was recovered by a Fire Service diving team. On Thursday morning at 9am, she was buried beside her elder uncle in her family graveyard at Shomospur, Khoksa Upazila.
Funerals of 4 Kushtia victims of Daulatdia bus accident held
Eyewitnesses said that Ayesha had been sitting with her mother, Lita Khatun, in the bus, while her father, Gias Uddin, along with her younger brother, Abul Kashem Safin, had disembarked at the ferry ghat. Within moments, the bus plunged into the river.
Ayesha’s father, Gias Uddin, recounted the harrowing incident: “I watched my daughter and wife struggling in the water. I could rescue my wife, but I couldn’t save Ayesha. I still can’t believe my eyes. In an instant, so many parents’ hearts were shattered.”
Her burial in Shomospur was marked by deep silence and grief in the neighborhood. Authorities and rescue teams had worked through the night to recover her body, which was handed over from Rajbari Sadar Hospital late Wednesday night.
Ayesha Siddika’s death has left her family and the local community nursing profound sorrow.