Ayesha was born just two weeks ago, but her father Rubel Hossain never got the chance to see his newborn daughter as he died in a devastating fire at a sofa factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Rubel, 30, was among 16 Bangladeshi workers killed in the fire on Sunday. 

His death has cast a pall of grief on Gondogohali village in Atrai upazila of Naogaon, where his family is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Rubel's father, Mohammad Saidur Rahman, recalled how he learned about his son's death.

“Just five or seven minutes after the Maghrib call to prayer on Sunday, someone came running to me and said, ‘Your son may have died. A fire has broken out at a factory,’” he said.

“I was devastated. I could not believe what I was hearing. I kept asking everyone to find out what had happened to my son and where he was,” Saidur said.

“My granddaughter is only 14 days old. Her father named her Ayesha. My son left this world without ever seeing the face of his newborn daughter,” he said.

Rubel had been working in Saudi Arabia for about nine years. He returned home on leave after spending around six and a half years there, got married and later went back to Saudi Arabia.

About two years later, he returned home again and stayed with his family for six months before leaving for Saudi Arabia once more. He had been back in the country for only around three months before the fatal fire.

Rubel worked at the sofa factory in Riyadh. His father said he had advised his son against taking the job because the work was difficult.

“I told him not to do this work because it was difficult. But he told me he was comfortable there because people he knew worked there and he could speak Bangla with them. He said he was not used to communicating in Arabic elsewhere,” Saidur said.

The grieving father appealed to the government to bring his son's body back home.

“We are poor people. We do not ask for much from the government. We only want our son brought back to us, even if he has to come in a coffin,” he said.

Saidur said the family had borrowed around Tk 900,000 and sold land to send Rubel to Saudi Arabia, and had repaid only part of the debt.

“We sold land and borrowed money to send my son abroad. Some of the debt has been repaid, but some is still outstanding,” he said.

At least 16 Bangladeshi workers were killed in the fire at the sofa factory in Riyadh, according to local sources. 

Of them, 12 were from different villages in Atrai upazila of Naogaon, while one was from Naogaon Sadar upazila. The identities of 13 victims from Naogaon have so far been confirmed.

The victims from Atrai are Suman Hossain, 35, and Hasibul Hasan Shuvo, 27, of Dubai village; Mohan Pramanik, Suman Pramanik, Rubel Hossain, 30, and Kolim Uddin Pramanik, 35, of Gondogohali village; Abdul Jalil, 38, of Parkasunda village; Sagor, 31, and Majidul, 34, of Bisha village; Farid Sheikh, 32, of Udanpaith village; and Minhaz and Hridoy of Boala village.

Md Shahin Hossain, son of Majnur Rahman, from the Old Registry Office area of Naogaon Sadar, was also among the victims.

Naogaon Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Saiful Islam said the deaths of 13 people from the district have so far been confirmed – 12 from Atrai upazila and one from Naogaon Sadar.

“We are in contact with the families of the deceased. Coordination is underway with the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment to bring the bodies back home,” he said.