Couple, two others killed in Gazipur fire

Four people, including a couple, were killed and 20 others injured in a fire in Gazipur's Kaliakoir upazila yesterday.

Over 50 dwellings were also gutted in the fire that originated at "Kalampur Nobboi Colony" around 5:30am, said Kabirul Alam, station officer of Kaliakoir Fire Service.

The deceased are Milon Mia, 37, of Sandhailpur village under Gaibandha's Gabidaganj upazila, his wife Munni Begum, 30, Forhad Hossain, 40, of the same village and Abdul Auwal, 42, of Jagannathpur village of the district's Palashpur upazila.

They were tenants of adjacent rooms of a house. Workers of garment factories rent houses in the area, the station officer said.

Soon after being informed of the fire, three firefighting units rushed to the spot and put out the blaze after an hour, Alam said.

They rescued the injured and sent them to different clinics and hospitals, he said.

Firefighters suspected that the explosion of a gas cylinder may be the reason behind the fire but they could not confirm the cause till yesterday evening, Alam added.

Tk 20,000 in cash and blankets were distributed among each of the victim's families, Hafizul Alam Amin, Kaliakoir upazila nirbahi officer said.

The bodies will be sent to their respective villages after post-mortem, said Razib Chakrabarty, inspector (investigation) of Kaliakoir Police Station.

Cases will be logged if the deceased's families file them in this regard, he said.