Rangamati, July 23 (V7N) — In a deeply mournful atmosphere, 14-year-old Ukya Ching Marma, a student of Milestone School and College in Dhaka, was laid to rest on Wednesday afternoon at his family residence following Buddhist funeral rites. The body was taken to the cremation ground after traditional rituals were observed in accordance with his community's religious customs.

Ukya Ching Marma, originally from Rajsthali upazila in Rangamati district, passed away on July 21 while receiving treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. He was among the victims of a training aircraft crash and sustained severe burn injuries. Despite doctors’ efforts, he could not survive.

His former teacher from Cantonment School and College, Sharmin Akhter, broke down in tears while speaking about him. “Ukya Ching was not only intelligent and polite, but also highly creative. I taught him up to Grade 5, after which his family moved him to Dhaka for higher studies,” she said, visibly emotional.

His father, Usai Mong Marma, spoke to reporters with overwhelming grief: “My son was very respectful and brilliant. He dreamt of becoming an engineer. On July 21, I received a call from Dhaka asking where I was. I said I was in Rajsthali. They told me to rush to the hospital or send a relative immediately. I sent relatives first and reached the National Burn Institute myself around midnight. The doctors told me his body was 100% burned. They asked us to pray. That was all they could say,” he recalled, pausing often to hold back tears.

His mother, devastated by the loss, has been in shock and is unable to speak. Neighbors and relatives reported that she fainted repeatedly due to the emotional trauma of losing her only son.

Family members, neighbors, classmates, and friends expressed a united appeal to the government: they do not want to witness such tragic deaths again. There is growing demand to reconsider allowing flight training exercises over densely populated areas, particularly those involving high-risk maneuvers. The public has urged authorities to enforce stricter safety regulations to prevent future tragedies of this nature.

Ukya Ching Marma is remembered not just as a bright student with aspirations, but as a symbol of unfulfilled dreams and a heartbreaking loss for his family, community, and school.

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