‘My son is trapped in collapsed building’

Ten-year-old Iftakar Ahmed Wazid is still missing after a three-storey building collapsed in Narayanganj on Sunday afternoon.

Fire service rescuers were conducting a search operation, but could not locate the boy till this report was filed at 7pm last evening.

“We have searched all the rooms of the ground floor. There’s no sign of the boy. We think he might be trapped in the building corridor,” said Abdullah Arefin, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence.

“But the corridor has gone under water and mud. That’s why we are facing difficulties to enter the corridor. We are trying to remove the water and mud, using a special machine,” he added.

Two units of fire service, five divers and 40 volunteers were conducting the search operation, said the fire service official.

A three-storey building collapsed in Narayanganj city’s Baburail area on Sunday afternoon, leaving a 10-year-old boy dead and five injured.

Fire service officials said the building might have collapsed due to faulty underground piling, as it was built occupying a part of a canal.

Grief has engulfed the family and relatives of the missing boy. His mother remains inconsolable.

“Wazid used to go to the building to his private tutor. On that day, his lessons were complete and he left the building. But he went back in when he realised that he had left his Quran in his private tutor’s room. After he went into the building, it collapsed and Wazid has been missing since then,” said his mother Kakoli Begum.

“I strongly believe, my son is trapped in the ground floor,” she said.

Meanwhile, fire service officials have asked residents of adjacent buildings to evacuate, fearing further causalities.

Many residents of neighboring buildings were seen leaving their homes.

“The adjacent buildings, underground pillars of which were set up by filling up parts of a canal, are also vulnerable. That is why, we have asked them to evacuate the buildings,” said fire service official Abdullah Arefin.

Police said the owners went into hiding after the building collapsed. Drives were on to catch them.

“Rescue operation is on. After that, investigation will be conducted into the incident. Legal action will be taken after investigation,” said Aslam Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Fatullah Police Station.