Fire orphans 2-yr-old
Mother, father dies of smoke inhalation after flames in their home was doused
Two-year-old Adiat keeps looking for his mother. His grandmother tries her best to distract him but to no avail.
He gets restless and calls out desperately for his parents.
Adiat is too young to understand the cruel realty. His parents died of smoke inhalation during a fire in Bolirhat area of Chittagong city early yesterday.
Syed Hossain, 35, a staff of Memon Maternity Hospital, and his wife Nahida Sultana Rina, 26, a master's student of Government City College, Chittagong, lived in Shahjeepara with their only child, Adiat.
Around 3:30am, a house in the area was on fire. The fire had originated from an earthen stove and had engulfed two other houses, said Otish Chakma, senior station officer of Kalurghat fire station.
“Hearing screams, we all got out and saw the fire,” said Manjur Alam, brother of Syed. Nahida gave her son to one of the neighbours and tried to douse the blaze as it spread to theirs, he added.
Later, firemen extinguished the flames around 4:30am, he said. But Nadia went inside the house, said neighbours Mohammad Babul and Md Rahsed. As she was not coming out, Syed went in too.
They were found lying unconscious inside, said Rina Akter, Syed's sister-in-law. Both were rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where doctors declared them dead around 6:00am, said Nayek Hamidur Rahman of CMCH police camp.
They went inside the house to recover their certificates and other documents, said the family members.
Nur Banu, Syed's mother, could not speak. She was holding Adiat tight.
“Will we be able to take care of him like his parents?” lamented Rina Akter.
Some seven houses were gutted, and the damage was estimated around Tk 3 lakh, said a fire service official.