Merzina Khatun (55), a billing supervisor at the Rural Electrification Office in Pangsha, Rajbari, tragically died in the Padma River bus accident. She lived in Jugia Palpara, Kushtia, and had boarded a bus on Wednesday to visit her daughter in Dhaka for medical treatment. The bus fell into the Padma River at Daulatdia Ghat in Gowalmand, Rajbari.

By 10 a.m. Thursday, authorities had recovered the bodies of 24 victims, including Merzina. Of these, 21 bodies, including hers, were handed over to family members, while the bodies of three, including the driver, remained at Rajbari Sadar Hospital.

Merzina was laid to rest at the Jugia Rastapara graveyard in Kushtia around 10:30 a.m. Her husband, Abu Bakar Siddique, is a retired headmaster of a secondary school. The couple had two daughters: the elder, Amena Khatun, is a homemaker, and the younger, Fatema Farhana, is a lecturer at Satkhira Medical College and was staying in Dhaka to complete a course. Both daughters reside in Mirpur, Dhaka.

According to her elder son-in-law, Monowar Hossain, Merzina had boarded the bus around noon to visit her daughter’s home. Around the afternoon, as the bus reached Daulatdia Ghat, she spoke to Amena and mentioned that the bus had stopped at the ghat and would board the ferry shortly. Just 20 minutes later, the bus plunged into the river. The family rushed to Rajbari that night and identified her body at the Gowalmand Health Complex.

Monowar Hossain added that the body was brought to Kushtia by morning, and the funeral in Jugia Rastapara was attended by hundreds. Merzina had been traveling to Dhaka for treatment of gallstones.

Her husband, Abu Bakar Siddique, said he had spoken to her once after finishing work but had no further contact before the accident.

The accident occurred around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday when a passenger bus operated by Souharda Paribahan, traveling from Kumarghali, Kushtia to Dhaka, lost control while boarding a ferry at Daulatdia Ghat and fell into the Padma River. There were approximately 45 passengers on board, according to fellow travelers and the bus counter master.