KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Their first family holiday to Malaysia turned tragic for a Bangladeshi family on the way back from Genting Highlands in one of the most horrific bus crashes in the country.
Rafieque Al Bhuijah, 54, died when the bus he was in with his family went tumbling down a ravine on Wednesday afternoon, killing 37 people and injured 16.
His wife Rashidah Buyah, 50, and his two sons Rezyan Arefin, 24, and Raawnok Arefin, 14, survived the bus crash and were admitted to the Selayang Hospital.
Rezyan is in critical condition while Rashidah and Raawnok are semi-critical.
Rashidah’s brother-in-law Raziqul Hassan, 42, said the family had arrived from Singapore before heading to Genting.
“They did not know I was also here in Malaysia as we flew directly to the KL International Airport.
“Rafieque, the youngest in the family, holds a Canadian passport along with his family. His eldest son, who is in Canada, is now on his way here.
“Rafieque’s elder brother (who did not want to be named) — who is also here — fainted several times since Wednesday night after getting the news.”
Raziqul said they had been rushing to either the Selayang Hospital or the Kuala Lumpur Hospital since Wednesday.
“We are just tired and some of us are not well. It has been a long day for us,” he said.
“We could not identify Rafieque’s body until today. We are in the process of making arrangements to send the body back to Bangladesh.
“Our main problem now is we don’t know when Rafieque’s eldest son will arrive. We are keeping the body at the mortuary until all arrangements have been made.”
He said they were also trying to get the Bangladesh High Commission to help them with the arrangements.
Raziqul said he was too distraught to speak more on the matter.
