N’ganj Building Collapse: Body of missing boy recovered after 48hrs

The body of 10-year-old Iftakar Ahmed Wazid was found yesterday afternoon, around 48 hours after a three-storey building collapsed in Narayanganj.

Fire service rescuers found his body in the balcony of the collapsed building, after breaking a wall of that part, said Abdullah Arefin, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Part of the building went under water as it collapsed in the adjacent canal, making it very difficult for fire service rescuers to reach the balcony.

Death toll from the incident now stands at two. Body of Md Soyahor Hossain, cousin of Wazid, was recovered after the building collapsed on Sunday afternoon. 

Both Wazid and Soyahor were students of class six at the local Sunrise School.

Wazid, son of Abdul Rubel, used to live in an adjacent building with his family and went to that building for private tuition.

Kakoli Begum, mother of Wazid, told journalists that every day she took her son to Sonia Akhter, an Arabic teacher living on the ground floor of the building, for private lessons.

“He completed his lessons on that day and we left the building. He mistakenly left his Quran in the building, went back in to get it but could not come out,” said Kakoli Begum.

Wazid’s parents remain inconsolable.

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

“It was constructed on canal, violating building code,” said fire service official Abdullah Arefin.

Speaking to The Daily Star, some locals said the three-storey building was constructed around 10 years ago. Construction of the fourth floor was going on.

Meanwhile, the victims’ maternal uncle Md Rony yesterday filed a case against five owners of the building. All of the accused went into hiding after the incident, said Aslam Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Fatullah Police Station.

Local administration has provided financial assistance of Tk 20,000 to each victim’s family. Furthermore, the administration has taken all responsibilities to complete the burial of Wazid, said Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Nahida Barik.

She also informed that two other adjacent buildings have been sealed as those seem vulnerable.

The district administration has formed a seven-member probe body headed by additional district magistrate Rehena Akhter. The probe body has been asked to submit a report by November 8.

Contacted, Rehena said the probe body has already visited the spot. The committee members are going over documents as part of its enquiry. Family members have decided to bury Wazid next to Soyahor.