Police say a second victim has died after a fire at a Gulshan apartment building on Sunday.
The victim has been identified as Rajib aka Raju, who worked as a cook in the building, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Md A Ahad of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Gulshan Division, reports bdnews24.com.
Rajib was critically injured when he leapt from the building and died of his wounds, said Inspector Sheikh Shahanur of Gulshan Police Station.
Authorities have also identified the first victim claimed by the fire as 30-year-old Anwar Hossain. The body was identified by the victim’s older sister Bilkis Begum and younger brother Zulhas late on Sunday night at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.
Both Rajib and Anwar worked as cooks for the family of Bangladesh Cricket Board Director Fahim Sinha.
Anwar’s family hail from Didarulla village in Bhola’s Daulatkhan Upazila. He was the third of six children – five brothers and a sister. Most of his family lives in Bhola. Anwar’s wife is pregnant, Zulhas says.
Anwar is believed to have died after he leapt from the burning building or because he fell, said SI Bablur Rahman of Gulshan Police Station.
At a written request from the family, the body was turned over to his relatives without an autopsy.
Three others injured in the incident – Mosha Sikdar, 33, Raushon Ali, 35, and Shama Rahman Sinha – are receiving treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Burn Institute.
Raushon is an employee at a garment factory owned by the New Age Group in Ashulia. Though she lives in Ashulia, she had gone to the building to show some samples to Managing Director Arif Ibrahim.
Mosha is a driver for the company's managing director and lives in Kuril.
Three victims of the Gulshan fire have been admitted to the burn institute, according to Assistant Registrar Noor-e-Alam Babu.
Fahim Sinha, a director of Acme Group and Bangladesh Cricket Board, and his family live on the top two floors of the building. Their domestic aides Rina and Alo, said they, along with five others, left the building just after the fire broke out.
Rina said Fahim’s wife Shama Rahman and two others were still inside the building at the time they left.
Shama is also a director of the group, its employees said at Sikder Medical College Hospital where Shama was rushed to.
They said Shama jumped off the 12th-floor balcony into a swimming pool.
An initial investigation by the fire service suggests an electrical short circuit was responsible for starting the fire, said Deputy Police Commissioner Md A Ahad, citing details of an investigation.
Additional details of the incident will be provided by the firefighters when they make a statement, he added.
