DEATH OF BANGLADESHI PEACEKEEPERS

When the Thursday's plane crash in the West African country of Benin came to Bangladesh nobody had the slightest idea that 15 Bangladeshi army officers on UN peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and Liberia were among the 119 people killed. They were returning home on leave after six months of duty. They were aboard the Boeing 727 towards Beirut. From there, they were to fly to Dhaka via Dubai. Read The Daily Star for the names and pictures of the deceased.

They were supposed to take one UN chartered flight to Beirut. But because of lack of space they could not get aboard that and got themselves into this doomed flight instead. Their families were about to greet them in the Airport when they heard the news. There have been reports of safety concerns in the operation of these chartered flights. I think for betterment of everybody concerned people should avoid these unsafe flights.