More than a decade ago, a man swindled Altafur Rahman of almost Tk 6 lakh, a hefty sum he mostly borrowed from relatives, shattering his hopes of providing his family with a better life by working as an expatriate in Saudi Arabia.

Weeks had turned into months but Altaf, despite his best efforts, couldn't secure work to pay off the loan sharks and relatives. At times, he even had to face threats and go into hiding.

The situation forced Altaf, along with his wife Afroza Akter, a housewife, to leave their quiet village life in Jamalpur's Madarganj.

They moved to Dhaka, hoping that their combined labour in the bustling capital would help them pay off the debt and provide education for their two children.

Altaf took up work as a mason, while Afroza began working as a domestic help to support him.

Things were relatively well till this morning when a tragedy stuck Altaf, along with two of his co-workers, as they fell through the space between two buildings.

The three fell to their death when the rope of a scaffold they were working on tore off in a 10-storey building in the capital's Basabo area.

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3 workers die falling off building in Basabo

"We hoped we would bounce back by working hard together... But everything has been destroyed now," Afroza told The Daily Star.

To minimise the cost of living in Dhaka, the couple left behind their two children -- Bonya, 15, a Class VII student and Ananda, 13, a fifth grader -- back home who were living with their grandparents in the village.

"Over the last couple of years, he [Altaf] has been repaying the debt, while our two children have been studying in schools in the village. How will I manage to support the family and make them continue their study?" she lamented.

Apart from Altafur, his coworkers -- Antar, 25 and Mofizul Islam, 20 -- died in the incident.

Hailing from Mymensingh, Antar used to live Ahmedbagh in Sabujbagh.

Antar's death pushed his wife Srabanty, who is four months pregnant with a child, into deep uncertainty, his cousin Uzzal Hossain said.

Locals in Basabo said the workers died as the building owners and contractor did not ensure any safety measures.

Hayatul Islam Khan, deputy commissioner of Motijheel Division at Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they would take legal action if the construction work was being carried out without maintaining the safety of workers.

Pralay Kumar Saha, officer-in-charge of Sabujbagh Police Station, said there was no protection on the side of the building, and the workers fell off after the scaffold tore off.

Drives are on to arrest the accused, he said.