Umrah pilgrims wait nearly 3hrs for luggage carrying Zamzam water; Biman takes action against 2 officials

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has initiated departmental action against two officials after Umrah pilgrims arriving from Medina had to wait nearly three hours to receive their luggage containing Zamzam water, the national flag carrier said.

The action came after four Jamaat-e-Islami lawmakers submitted a written complaint to Biman’s managing director, seeking an explanation within four days over the delay involving passengers of flight BG 338 from Medina to Dhaka.

The flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 9:10am today (1 October).

The MPs — Sherpur-1 lawmaker Rashedul Islam Rashed, Dhaka-5 lawmaker Mohammad Kamal Hossain, Gazipur-4 lawmaker Salahuddin and Khulna-2 lawmaker Jahangir Hossain — said most passengers, including 34 lawmakers, had to wait around three hours for their luggage containing Zamzam water.

Meanwhile, a video that has gone viral on social media shows former lawmaker and retired Major Akhtaruzzaman, who has joined Jamaat-e-Islami, speaking angrily to the airport’s executive director over the delay in providing water and trolleys.

The executive director, Group Captain SM Ragib Samad, remained calm and explained the situation to him as Akhtaruzzaman raised his voice, according to the video.

The lawmakers alleged in their complaint that passengers were not given a satisfactory explanation for the delay, causing major inconvenience.

Biman said a preliminary investigation found that problems with container offloading and operational negligence had caused the delay.

According to a statement signed by Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Mohiuddin Ahmed, departmental action has been initiated against baggage in-charge Monirul Islam Pradhan and flight supervisor Saddam Hossain over alleged negligence of duty.

After being informed of the problem, Biman took immediate steps to ease the inconvenience faced by the pilgrims, the airline said.

It arranged for Zamzam water from its reserve stock to be distributed among the passengers. The remaining Zamzam water was later located in another container and delivered to the passengers, Biman said.

In their complaint, the four lawmakers said the passengers had waited for a prolonged period without receiving a satisfactory explanation.

“We [the lawmakers], the undersigned, along with other passengers who arrived in Dhaka on BG 338 (Medina-Dhaka), did not receive our tagged luggage containing Zamzam water even after three hours,” they said in their complaint.

They asked Biman’s managing director to explain the circumstances behind the delay within four days.

Biman said it remains committed to providing uninterrupted, quality services to passengers and has strengthened internal monitoring to prevent similar incidents in the future.