Tareque Masud
Tareque Masud has been killed in a car crash. He was 55.
The director died along with local TV boss Ashfaque Munier Mishuk on Saturday (13Aug11) after their vehicle collided head-on with a bus outside Dhaka.
Masud's wife Catherine and painter Dhali Al Mamun were also passengers in the car and they are in a serious condition in hospital, according to reports.
The award-winning director made a series of critically-acclaimed films, including 2002's Matir Moina - which was the first Bangladeshi movie to be nominated for best foreign-language film at the Oscars. The film was based on his experiences as a student during the country's war of independence in 1971.
Education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, says, "It is a very unfortunate incident for us. Masud through his movies had given a new dimension to liberation war. Mishuk was an immensely talented journalist. It is a national loss."
Thousands of people paid their respects at the Central Shaheed Minar monument in Dhaka on Sunday.