Two members of a family of Bangladeshi nationals have been killed while two others have been injured after a vehicle driving the wrong way crashed into their car in the US state of Maryland.
The driver of the vehicle travelling the wrong way was drunk at the time of the incident and was also injured in the incident, according to the state’s attorney.
The accident occurred on Interstate 270 near Bethesda in Montgomery County on Saturday evening.
The dead have been identified as Shamima Begum, 46, and her daughter Areebaah Zahin, 23. Shamima's husband Faruk Hossain, 62, and another daughter Rubaiya Hossain, 9, were injured in the crash. Faruk was driving the family car.
The family lived in Virginia’s Alexandria. They came to the US from Bangladesh’s Barguna on an immigrant visa a few years ago.
Shamima and Ariha were laid to rest after a funeral service on Monday at the Islamic Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
US BNP leader Anwarul Islam travelled from New York to attend the ceremony.
He told bdnews24.com, “The entire community is in mourning over the fate of the entire family. Faruk Hossain, who was injured in the accident, has broken seven ribs in his chest. He also has back pain.
“Rubaiya has suffered a head injury. They are in the ICU at a Maryland hospital.”
Drunk Driver
News outlet NBC4 Washington wrote that Montgomery County Attorney John McCarthy said the driver had admitted to being drunk at the time of the accident.
A judge ordered the detention of 32-year-old Jose Caballero-Nolasco after hearing the charges against him on Monday. He is charged with gross negligent manslaughter, homicide by motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol and life-threatening injury by motor vehicle.
McCarthy said, “The car was going the wrong way. That we definitively know. That’s in the charging document."
"Where he got on, how long he had been going, I think that's a matter of ongoing investigation. That’s why I would say to anybody that's out in the community, if you saw this going on, call in and tell the state police. That's information we would love to have from the community so we can be as accurate. If you saw him getting on, call us and tell us where you saw him.”
Outside court on Monday, Caballero-Nolasco's lawyer, Sharon Diamond, said he is a construction worker from El Salvador. He has been in the United States for 10 years and is expecting a child with his girlfriend. His legal status in the US is unknown.
Diamond said, “I met with the family for several hours yesterday and I was on the phone with him for about two hours last night."
"He seemed stunned; he seems in shock. I would say extremely remorseful for what happened, but I think he is stunned right now. I think that's the best way to describe his demeanour.”
