4 children burnt in factory fire

Four children suffered burns when a fire broke out in a house-slash-shopping bag factory in the capital's Hazaribagh area yesterday evening.

The injured -- Sajib, 13, Tamjid, 12, Hedayet Ullah, 6, and Asad Ullah, 17 -- were undergoing treatment at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The condition of Sajib was said to be critical with 61 percent burns in his body. Tamjid sustained 15 percent burns while Hedayet 14 percent and Asad 10 percent, said Partha Sankar Pal, resident surgeon of the burn unit.

Mir Alimuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Hazaribagh Police Station, said one Abdus Salam ran a plastic shopping bag factory in a room of his home on Bhagalpur Lane.

The fire broke out around 6:30pm when cooking was going on in the kitchen. Twelve workers were working at the factory at that time.

Of the injured, Sajib and Asad are the workers of the factory. Hedayet is the son of Salam and Tamjid is a neighbour. 

Locals doused the fire before firefighters reached the spot.