A family wiped out on Eid day

Young couple -- Belal Hossain, 30, and Mukta Khatun, 25, were expecting their second baby within a few months.

As per their plan, Belal was taking six-month pregnant Mukta to their village home in Pirojpur's Mathbaria upazila today so that she gets necessary care from their family members and can have the baby there.

But, an unforeseeable tragedy befell the couple and their four-year-old daughter Maisha at the Sadarghat Ferry Terminal this afternoon.

All three family members, along with two others, died after being struck by the broken mooring line of a passenger launch.

Belal used to work as an operator at a garment factory at Gacha area in Gazipur. He had recently opened a tailor shop as well and worked there after his job at the factory.

"Belal's hard work paid off. Just last month, he bought some land with his savings," Hanufa Begum, elder sister Mukta told The Daily Star at Midford Hospital, where their bodies were kept for necessary procedure.

"He was working hard for a prosperous life. But everything he worked for has vanished in moments," said a grieving sister-in-law.

Another victim, Robiul Islam, 19, was a hawker at Sadarghat Launch Terminal.

On top of his daily needs, he had to bear the treatment costs of his parents.

His mother is a cancer and heart patient, while his father suffers from mental illnesses.

Robiul even collected donations at Keraniganj, where had been living with his parents, because he was not earning enough for the treatment cost.

After learning about his death, many of his acquaintances gathered at Midford hospital.

"Who will look after his parents now?" one of them was heard saying.

His mother, sitting on the road in front of the hospital, was seen devastated. "I want my son's body back. I don't want anything [autopsy] done to my son."

The last victim,  Ripon Hawlader, 38, was the breadwinner of his four member family.

He used to provide ride-sharing service in Dhaka city, keeping his wife and two minor daughters at his village home in Pirojpur Sadar Upazila.

"He was on his way home to see his family," his cousin told this newspaper at Sadarghat.