The Directorate General of Health Services has formed a team of five specialists from the burns and plastic surgery institute in Dhaka and sent them to Barishal to assist in the treatment of the injured victims of a deadly launch fire in Jhalakathi.
Following the decision, the doctors already left Dhaka on their way to Barishal, reports bdnews24.com.
Most of the victims were brought to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital after the fire started about 3 am on Friday and burnt the Barguna-bound launch MV Abhijan-10 from Dhaka for nearly three hours.
HM Saiful Islam, director of the hospital, said 70 people burnt in the fire were admitted to the hospital. Out of them, 67 were kept at the surgery unit as the burns unit was closed. Three others were sent to Dhaka in “critical” condition.
The team of doctors consists of assistant professors Nurul Alam and Dr Mashrur Ur Rahman, Registrar Morshed Kamal and resident physicians Mridul Kanti Sarker and Shawon Bin Rahman.
“We’re trying to ensure proper treatment of the victims,” Health Minister Zahid Maleque said while visiting the injured people at the burns institute on Friday evening.
He said 10 burnt victims were being brought to Dhaka and several of them were in critical condition.
The institute’s Coordinator Dr Samanta Lal Sen said some of the five victims brought in the evening had their respiratory tract burnt.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in the Maldives on a state visit, called and checked on the injured, he said.