Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked Awami League leaders and activists to stand beside the families of those who died and got injured in the US-Bangla plane crash.

She gave the directives during a joint meeting of Awami League central working committee, advisory council and associated bodies held at the PM’s official residence Ganobhaban, reports the UNB.

‘I told the party leaders and activists to communicate with the families of the victims and consoled them,’ Sheikh Hasina said in her introductory speech.

She said Awami League leaders and activists will enquire about the present condition of the victims’ families and find out the way how the party could help them.

Terming the incident very unfortunate, the Prime Minister said she returned to the country curtailing her tour in Singapore and talked to her Nepalese counterpart right after the incident when she was in Singapore.

Hasina, also the chief of the ruling Awami Leagues, mentioned that Bangladesh is sending a medical team and a DNA sample collection team to Nepal.

After the incident, the PM said, the Nepalese authorities very quickly started their rescue operation.

Meanwhile, Hasina said, the government declared a one-day state mourning for Thursday in memory of the victims of the US-Bangla plane crash.

The decision was taken at a high-level emergency meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office to determine the next course of action following the tragic accident.

She said the national flag will be hoisted half-mast across the country on Thursday.

Besides, special prayers will be held at all religious institutions and worship places, including mosques, temples, churches and pagodas across the country on Friday.

At least 49 people, including 26 Bangladeshi nationals, were killed as the US-Bangla Airlines aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Tribhuvan International Airport in the capital of Himalayan county Nepal on Monday.