The bodies of nine Bangladeshi migrant workers killed in a fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, arrived in Dhaka on Thursday aboard Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-340, landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

A press release issued by the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment stated this.

The fire broke out at the factory on August 9, killing 16 Bangladeshi workers. Saudi authorities have so far confirmed the identities of nine of the victims through fingerprint analysis. 

Seven of the identified victims were from Atrai upazila in Naogaon district — four from the same village, including two brothers — while one each came from Naldanga upazila in Natore and Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi.

The bodies were formally received at the airport by Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, who later briefed journalists.

Minister Chowdhury said fingerprint identification was not possible for the remaining seven victims, so DNA samples have been collected from relatives under the supervision of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), with efforts underway to repatriate those bodies as soon as possible. 

He said the Wage Earners' Welfare Board and the ministry had decided to provide each of the nine families with 35,000 taka for transport and burial costs plus a one-time grant of 300,000 taka, totaling 335,000 taka per family. 

He added that the Wage Earners' Welfare Board's own ambulances would transport the bodies directly to the victims' home villages.

State Minister Shama Obaed Islam said no death is ever welcome, noting that Bangladeshi migrant workers endure hardship abroad to support their families. 

She said the Bangladesh embassy in Saudi Arabia was working tirelessly to repatriate the remaining bodies once DNA testing is complete, adding that families had already been informed and the process would be expedited.

Also present at the airport were Mokhter Ahmed, secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment; Md Asaduzzaman, director general of the Wage Earners' Welfare Board; Dewan Ali Ashraf, director general (consular and welfare) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Ibrahim Alahmari, deputy chief of mission at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Dhaka.