The news dispatches I picked up from the internet during that time read as follows:
1. Source: Sify News (www.sify.com)
Seven killed in B'desh bus accident
Saturday, 26 July , 2003, 06:03
Dhaka: At least seven people, including a Filipino, were killed and 40 people hurt on Friday when a passenger bus crashed on a highway in southwestern Bangladesh, officials said. The overnight bus was heading to the capital Dhaka from the southwestern city of Khulna when it skidded into a ditch in the Faridpur district, said an official of the Sohag Paribahan transport company. He said one of the dead was a Filipino Muslim working in Bangladesh who had given his name as Jewel when he bought his bus ticket in Khulna.
2. Source: ABS-CBN (www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Saturday, July 26, 2003 8:32:20 p.m
Pinoy killed in Bangladesh bus accident
DHAKA -- At least seven people, including a Filipino, were killed and 40 people hurt
Friday when a passenger bus crashed on a highway in southwestern Bangladesh,
officials said.
The overnight bus was heading to the capital Dhaka from the southwestern city of
Khulna when it skidded into a ditch in Faripur district, said an official of the Sohag
Paribahan transport company.
He said one of the dead was a Filipino Muslim working in Bangladesh who had
given his name as Jewel when he bought his bus ticket in Khulna.
3. Source: inq7.net (The Philippine Daily Inquirer, website)
Filipino among seven killed in Bangladesh bus accident
Posted: 4:11 AM (Manila Time) | Jul. 26, 2003
Agence France-Presse
DHAKA -- A Filipino was among at least seven people who were killed while 40 others were hurt
Friday when a passenger bus crashed on a highway in southwestern Bangladesh, officials said.
The overnight bus was heading to the capital Dhaka from the southwestern city of Khulna when it
skidded into a ditch in the Faridpur district, said an official of the Sohag Paribahan transport
company. He said one of the dead was a Filipino Muslim working in Bangladesh, who had given his name as Jewel when he bought his bus ticket in Khulna.
Now, some clarifications. He's name is Joel - not Jewel and he's not a Muslim. So much for accurate reporting. I don't know why they have identified him as a Muslim but I can only guess. Bangladesh is a Muslim country and perhaps my brother, for convenience, simply identified himself as a Muslim. I would if I were him. I would even go to the extent of dressing like one.
It's an overnight bus so my brother was probably sleeping, like the other passengers when the accident happened. Other sources revealed that the bus careened of a roadside canal after trying to avoid a tricycle. My brother was probably thrown out of the window and was pinned down by the bus. His body showed no external injuries but the autopsy report indicated damage to internal organs.
He left behind a wife and a son, barely a year old who were preparing to leave and join him in Bangladesh when the accident happened. It was my first death in the family. Of course there were deaths of grandparents and close relatives - but nothing that close to me. Nothing that had impacted me so greatly.
Looking back, I realized that I was not able to spend enough time with my brother and now he's gone - forever. Yes there were those times that we spent, talking about work, aquaculture (his specialization) and other things but I feel, not enough to know him very well. I know he's the Mr. Nice Guy of the family - somebody who is always very careful not to offend the sensibilities of other people. He's the fun guy - somebody you want to be with. He's really good on social skills. He's my exact opposite. Me who doesn't give a hoot if somebody were offended by what I said (hey, grow up, deal with my views) as long as I believe it is par for the course. If an uncle or a relative is a slacker or an irresponsible parent - I'll say it, something that Joel will never do.
I can say he was a very intelligent person. He would have gone higher in the corporate world. Although I was 2 years his senior, he was able to work and earn his own money much earlier than I did (I was suspended from college for 2 years and spend it working in my parents' fishpond). He had already graduated from college and had started working during those years when I was still dependent on our parents support. I ended up getting some books from him and listening to the kind of music tapes he bought. If there was somebody in the family who can really entertain me and discuss with me on various topics on philosophy, culture, biology, business, music and the art, it was him. If there was somebody who could possibly be capable of understanding my beliefs and philosophies back then, it was him. He was such a huge loss to me.
When my father died, I can say that I have done what I am supposed to do for him. I have said everything that I wanted to say to him. I have probably fulfilled 90% of my obligation as a son - and in our culture, that's a lot. But for Joel, I feel I only did less than 10% of what an elder brother is supposed to do. Even for the most barbaric culture, that's hardly enough. That's why until now, I grieved for his loss.
I have made lots of back then mistakes but I have no regrets I made them for I can no longer afford to make them now. Actually, my greatest regrets in life are not for the things I did - but for those I ought to do, have failed to do and can no longer do.
Joel Invento Luna
Born: 27 November 1971
Died: 25 July 2003
A good brother
