Two burnt alive in slum fire in city

At least two people were killed and several others injured in a fire that broke out at Mollabari slum adjacent to FDC gate in the citys Karwan Bazar area on Saturday.

Victims were identified as Sharmin Akter Karima, 23, and her son Nafis, 2. Sharmins mother Alo Begum said they were died inside a shanty.
A five-member probe committee headed by Fire Service and Civil Defence Director (operations and maintenance) Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury was formed to investigate the fire incident in Karwan Bazar area of the capital.

Other members of the probe body are  Dhaka Division Fire Service and Civil Defence Deputy Director (Member Secretary) Md Saleh Uddin, Assistant Director (Member) Md Anwarul Haque, Deputy Assistant Director of Zone-1(Member) Md Tanharul Islam, Senior Station Officer of Tejgaon Fire Station (Member) Md Nazim Uddin Sarkar.

Regarding the incident, Sub-Inspector (SI) Mehedi Hasan of Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station said, "We could identify the deceased as a woman and a child and their bodies have been sent to morgue of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for autopsy."

According to Fire Service media cell official Anwarul Islam, 13 fire-fighting units rushed to the spot and doused the blaze around 3:40am, which broke out at around 2:25am. Director (operations and maintenance) of the fire service Tajul Islam Chowdhury said two people were killed and several others were injured in the fire incident. However, he said, they could not find out the actual cause behind the fire.

Meanwhile, nearly 300 homes were destroyed in the fire that broke out in the Mollabari slum next to the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) premises, according to fire service control room.

Lt Col Tajul said, "In addition to the two fatalities so far, several people have been injured. The injured have been sent to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn & Plastic Surgery."  However, the exact cause of the fire could not be immediately determined, he added.

According to Fire Service and Civil Defence media cell official Anwarul Islam, 13 fire-fighting units at around 3.40am on Saturday rushed to the spot and doused the blaze, which broke out at around 2:25am.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman said investigations are underway to ascertain whether the fire incident was an act of sabotage or an accident.

Addressing the media ot the spot DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman said, "At this stage, it is very early to conclude whether the fire was caused by negligence or an electrical short-circuit. The ongoing investigations by the fire service and police will shed light on the actual cause."

Habibur also noted that as deceased were severely burnt, it was impossible to immediately identify the deceased. "We have collected DNA samples for testing to find their identities," he said.