Child dies in building collapse
A 10-year old boy was killed and five others were injured when a three-storey building collapsed in Narayanganj city’s Baburail area yesterday afternoon.
The dead was identified as Md Soyahor Hossain, a sixth-grader of Sunrise Model School in the district.
The injured are Runa Begum, 35, wife of the building owner Babu Miah; their relatives Yusuf, 25; Anik Mirza, 23; Shwapna, 10; and tenant Sonia Akhter, 25.
Fire service officials said the building might have collapsed due to faulty underground piling as it was built occupying a part of a canal.
Meanwhile, Soyahor’s cousin Wazid, 10, of the same school, remained missing till filing of this report around 11:00pm last night.
Fire service divers, law enforcers and locals were conducting searches to trace Wazid.
Family sources said Sohayor used to live in an adjacent building. He was at the home of his private tutor Sonia, who lived in the building that gave way.
Amena Begum, aunt of Wazid, said a crack, big enough to damage their home’s bathroom pipe, had developed in the building on Saturday. The pipe was repaired, but the building owners did nothing about the crack.
Shahida Begum, a neighbour, said the building suddenly collapsed on the canal around 4:15pm.
On information, the fire services rushed to the spot. Locals and fire service officials recovered the body of Soyahor and rescued the five injured.
Abdullah Arefin, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence, said eight teams from the fire service were taking part in the rescue operation.
After the collapse, a few rooms of the building were submerged in the canal.
“Low quality construction materials might have been used when the building was built,” Arefin said.
Speaking to The Daily Star, some locals said the three-storey building was constructed around 10 years ago. The construction of the fourth floor was still incomplete.
Aslam Hossain, officer-in-charge of Fatullah police station, said legal action would be taken if anyone is found responsible.
Vising the spot, Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner said financial assistance of Tk 20,000 would be given to Soyahor’s family members.
A probe body will be formed to investigate the incident, and directives have also been issued to take legal action against those responsible, the DC said.
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