Pijush Poddar had been lamenting calling out ‘Shompurna’, ‘Sun’ and ‘Poppy’ in front of the Dhaka Medical Hospital morgue. His sister Poppy, nephew Sun Roy (10) and niece Shompurna Roy (12) have died in the fire while eating out at a restaurant in the capital’s Bailey Road.
While speaking from in front of the morgue at around 2:30am on Friday, Pijush Poddar said that his niece Shompurna was a student of Class 6 at Siddheshwari Girls School and College and his nephew Sun was a student of Class 4 at Willes Little Flower School and College. They used to live with their parents at Malibagh.
Pijush Poddar had gone to drop Shompurtna and Sun from school on Thursday. After school he brought them back home in the afternoon. Shomnpurna and Sun went to Kacchi Bhai restaurant on Bailey Road in the evening with their mother Poppy Roy.
Pijush told Prothom Alo that he rushed to the spot as soon as he heard the news of the restaurant catching fire. When he arrived there, he found the restaurant blazing but didn’t find any trace of Poppy, Shompurna and Sun.
Later, he went running to Dhaka Medical College morgue at midnight and found the body of Shompurna and Sun there. But, there was no trace of Poppy.
Like Shompurna and Sun, 43 people have been killed in the fire at the multi-storey building on Bailey Road. Meanwhile, 22 people have been severely injured. It is being assumed that the death toll may increase in this accident.
After 1:00am on Friday, a pile of bodies started arriving one after another at Dhaka Medical College Morgue from Bailey Road. Hearing the news, relatives of the deceased rushed to the emergency department of the hospital.
Mehera Kabir (Dola) used to work at private bank while her sister Mayesha Kabir used to teach at a private university. The two sisters used to live in Motijheel.
Thursday evening, they came to dine at Kacchi Bhai restaurant on Bailey road from Motijheel. These two sisters too have died in the fire. The environment at the hospital became heavy with the wailing of their relatives.
Nazia Akhter (31) and Md Ashik used to live in Bailey Road area with their children Ayan (8) and Ayat (6). Ashik is a businessman by profession. He had gone to Banani area on Thursday evening for work.
Meanwhile, Nazia along with their children went to dine at a restaurant on the third floor of the building. As soon as the building caught fire, Nazia called her husband and told him that they are in danger.
Nazia’s relative Rifat Hossain shared this information with Prothom Alo. At the time of the incident, he was chatting with his friends in front of that building. Suddenly he heard the deafening sound of an explosion coming from the ground floor of that building.
The fire spread on the upper level within seconds. Later, Ayan’s body was recovered from the third flight of the staircase. Nazia and Ayat have been killed too. Their bodies had been kept at Dhaka Medical College Morgue.
Relatives of the deceased crowded the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College since midnight. The air has become heavy at Dhaka Medical College hospital with their cries.