The bodies of nine of the 16 Bangladeshi workers killed in a fire at a sofa factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday. They were transported on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-340 to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam formally received the bodies before they were handed to relatives.

Officials said the remaining seven victims could not be identified through fingerprint testing. Under CID supervision, DNA samples have been collected from their relatives, and efforts are continuing to bring the remaining bodies back to Bangladesh as quickly as possible. The Expatriates’ Welfare Ministry and the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board said they would provide maximum assistance to the victims’ families.

Seven of the nine identified victims were residents of Atrai upazila in Naogaon, while the other two were from Naldanga and Bagmara. Local authorities confirmed that the bodies were handed over to relatives in the afternoon. Funeral prayers for the seven Atrai victims are scheduled for Friday at Molla Azad Government College field. The fire occurred on August 9 in Riyadh’s Manfuha and Musa Sanaiya areas.