At least nine people, including three of a family, of a wedding programme were killed as a microbus carrying them plunged into a river after a bridge collapsed in Amtali upazila of Barguna on Saturday.

The tragic end of those people left the whole area in mourning, with the cries of the bereaved filling the air. The deceased are Munni Begum, 40, her two daughters Tasfia, 14, and Tahiya Mehjabin Azad, 7, Rubia, 45, Raiti, 22, Fatema Akhtar, 55, Ruby Begum, 35, and Zakia Begum, 30, and her daughter Hridi, 5.

Of them, Zakia and her daughter were from Dakshin Taktabunia village in the Amtali upazila. The other seven victims were residents of Kokarar Char in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur and were relatives of the bride.

Abul Kalam Azad, husband of the deceased Munni, said, "I have lost everything. My two daughters and wife are dead. I am now helpless."

Sohel Mia, who was in the microbus, said, "We were 16 passengers in the microbus heading to the groom's house. As soon as we got on the Haldiya Hat Bridge, it collapsed, and the microbus fell into the river. Three of us managed to swim to safety. Later, locals, the fire service, and the police recovered nine bodies."

Eyewitnesses and Haldiya union parishad (UP) members Saiful Islam Swapan and Nashir Uddin said, "As soon as the microbus and auto-rickshaw reached the middle of the bridge, it collapsed with a thud, causing the vehicles to fall into the river. We immediately tried to rescue the victims with the help of locals. Later, the fire service and police joined the rescue operation."

On Saturday, the bride's family was traveling in a microbus and an auto-rickshaw to the groom's house around 1:30pm. As they crossed the Haldiya Bridge, the central portion of the bridge collapsed, causing the vehicles to plunge into the river. The passengers in the auto-rickshaw managed to swim to safety, but those in the microbus drowned."

Local Nashir Uddin, an eyewitness, said that the locals immediately tried to rescue the people trapped in the microbus. Upon receiving the news, Amtali Fire Service and police rushed to the scene to assist in the rescue efforts.

The bodies were taken to Amtali Upazila Health Complex. Following the incident, thousands of people protested, demanding justice for the victims and punishment for the contractor, one Shahidul Islam Mridha, who constructed the bridge around 10 years back.

Hearing the incident, local lawmaker Golam Sarwar Tuku, Deputy Commissioner Md. Rafiqul Islam, Upazila Parishad Chairman Alhaj Golam Sarwar Forkan and others rushed to the spot.

Lawmaker Tuku said, "I have expressed condolences to the victims' families at the hospital and visited the site. I have also calmed the agitated people at the site. If irregularities in the bridge construction led to this incident, an investigation will be conducted, and legal action will be taken. Financial assistance will be provided to the victims' families."

Deputy Commissioner Md. Rafiqul Islam said he has visited the site. Legal action will be taken against the contractor for irregularities in the bridge construction."

Amtali police station's Officer-in-Charge (OC) Kazi Shakhawat Hossain Tupu confirmed the matter saying that the bodies were handed over to the families without autopsies upon appeals from the victims' families.

Amtali Fire Service In-Charge Md. Hanif said despite four hours of efforts they could not recover the microbus. The rescue operation was still going on.

There are allegations that contractor Mridha built the bridge poorly. As a result, the central beam of the bridge broke within five years of its construction. For the past ten years, around 50,000 people from Haldiya Union, Chawra, and nearby areas have been using the weakened bridge.

It was learned that in the fiscal year 2008-09, the iron bridge over the Chawra River at Haldiya Hat, was built at a cost of approximately Tk 2 crore. The construction contract was awarded to Mridha, the then-chairman of Haldiya Union Parishad and president of the local Awami League. Denying the allegation, contractor Mridha claimed, "I constructed the bridge properly. There were no irregularities in the construction/.

Amtali Upazila Engineer Abdullah Al Mamun said, "The bridge was constructed before I joined Amtali. I have no knowledge about it."