Final Wish Fulfilled for Young Saint Martin’s Entrepreneur

In a twist of fate as tragic as it is uncanny, a 33-year-old entrepreneur from Saint Martin’s Island has perished in a road accident, only months after documenting his funeral wishes on social media. Abdul Malek, a vibrant and healthy young man with no history of illness, had updated his Facebook biography with a haunting request: “After my death, please lay my body to rest in my birthplace, Saint Martin’s, beside the graves of my parents.”

On Wednesday afternoon, that digital testament became a chilling reality following a devastating vehicular collision on the Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong Highway.

The Fatal Encounter at Banglabazar

The accident occurred at approximately 3:00 pm in the Banglabazar area. Mr Malek was travelling towards Cox’s Bazar town in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw after completing a professional training course. According to police and eyewitness accounts, a freight truck travelling in the opposite direction collided head-on with the three-wheeler.

The impact was so severe that the auto-rickshaw was hurled off the road, reduced to a mangled wreck. Local bystanders rushed to the scene and transported the critically injured Malek to the emergency department of Cox’s Bazar District Sadar Hospital. Tragically, the attending physician declared him dead on arrival.

A Life of Ambition and Versatility

Abdul Malek was a prominent figure in his community, known for his academic prowess and entrepreneurial spirit. Having obtained an LLM (Master of Laws) from the International Islamic University Chittagong, he chose to invest his talents back into his island home. He was the proprietor of ‘Sea-Coral’, a popular resort on Saint Martin’s Island, and was actively involved in journalism and digital content creation.

The Long Journey Home

Family members revealed that Mr Malek was in the final stages of preparing for a move to Saudi Arabia. He had just finished a three-day vocational training programme at the BKSP centre in Ramu’s Joarianala only an hour before the accident.

In accordance with his final wish, his body will undergo a post-mortem examination before beginning a solemn final journey. His remains will be transported by road to Teknaf, followed by a crossing of the Naf River and the Bay of Bengal by trawler. He will finally be interred in the coral-fringed soil of Saint Martin’s, reunited with his parents as he had so presciently requested.

Officer-in-Charge of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model Thana, Md. Shami Uddin, confirmed that the body is currently being held at the hospital morgue pending the completion of legal formalities before being handed over to his grieving relatives.