Natore Correspondent:

Four members of a family, who died together in a road accident in Natore, were laid to rest at Farajipara graveyard in Dharmadah village in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia district on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier, a namaz-e-janaza of four people was held at around 2 pm where several hundred villagers paid their last tribute.

On Wednesday, eight people, including seven members of a family, were killed in a head-on collision between a microbus and a truck on Bonpara-Hatikumrul Highway in Baraigram upazila.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested the driver of the truck from his residence in Natore district on Wednesday night.

The accident occurred at around 10:30am on Wednesday when the Dhaka-bound microbus from Natore crashed into the truck in Sirampur Araimari Bridge area.

The deceased were identified as Zahidul Islam, 55,  his wife Shelly Begum, 50, sister-in-law Anwara Khatun Anna, 55, wife of Shahidul Islam, brother of Zahidul, Anwara Khatun, Anu, 50 sister-in-law of Zahidul, Ety Begum, 40, sister of Zahidul, Anjuman Ara, 75, wife of Mohamamd Ali of Meherpur district and her daughter Shima Khatun, 35 and microbus driver Shahab Uddin.

The victims were reportedly on their way to Sirajganj to visitan ailing relative of them, when the fatal accident occurred.

The bodies of four people—Zahidul, his wife Selina, two sister-in-laws—Anwara and Anu, reached Kushtia around 7:30 pm on Thursday.

The atmosphere turned deeply emotional, as relatives, neighbours and well-wishers wept openly.

Zahidul’s two sons – Sohan and Sagor – flew home from Singapore to join the funeral.

Driver Shahab’s body also reached the village Wednesday night and was buried in the local graveyard.

Meanwhile, the bodies of Zahidul’s sister Eti Khatun and his mother-in-law Anjumanara (75), and sister-in-law Seema Khatun (35) from Betbari village in Meherpur were taken to their respective home villages on Wednesday night and buried Thursday morning.

Romana Khatun, a housewife from Farajipara, said she had never witnessed such a tragedy before — where four people from three neighboring homes in the same village died together in one incident.

With mourning draped over every household, Dharmadah village remains overwhelmed with grief.

Abdul Baki, chairman of Adabaria Union Parishad, said, “This is a heartbreaking incident. Members of the same family and their close relatives died together. Nothing like this has happened in my union before.”