Tragedy comes 3 days before Eid
Rafique had received his salary ahead of the Eid and his family in Mymensingh already bought a sacrificial animal. He was supposed to pay a part of the cost once he reached home today.
His wife was waiting for him with their five-month-old baby to celebrate Eid together.
It's not going to happen now.
Now, the body of the 28-year-old will reach home.
He was killed in a massive fire at a factory in Tongi BSCIC industrial area of Gazipur yesterday.
“I was supposed to meet him [Rafique] at home. But now, I have to go there to bring his body,” said Atiqul Islam, elder brother of Rafique.
Rafique, of Trisal upazila in Mymensingh, had been working for Tampaco Foils Ltd at the maintenance department for the six years, Atiqul said.
“Hearing about the incident, I tried to reach him over the phone but failed … Later, I identified his body at a Tongi hospital,” he added.
Twenty-four people, mostly workers, were killed and dozens more were injured in the fire. Family members and relatives of the victims thronged the site, Tongi Hospital, and Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The Daily Star talked to some of them.
Sisters Rozina Akhter, 22, and Tahmina Akhter, 20, of Ghanashyampur in Chunarughat of Habiganj had been working in garment factories for seven years and it was the main source of income for their family.
They had nothing to do with the factory or the fire but were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yesterday, they were on a rickshaw to go to a nearby bus stop to catch a vehicle to go to their village home. Suddenly, a wall of the factory fell on their rickshaw, leaving them and the rickshaw puller dead.
Learning about the incident, their father Abdul Hanif rushed to Dhaka. He had to identify their bodies at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
“We had a plan to get Rozina married soon and talks were going on in this regard … But I now have to collect their bodies,” he told The Daily Star at the DMCH.
Rickshaw-puller Rashed, of Sarisha in Ishwarganj upazila of Mymensingh, was the lone breadwinner of his seven-member family. He had been running his family pulling rickshaws in Tongi area for the last five years, said his sister Bedena Begum.
“The entire family's future in now uncertain,” she added.
“He [Rashed] had a plan to go home Sunday night to celebrate Eid,” said Sujan, a cousin of Rashed.
Gopal Das, 25, of Baro Babri in Nababganj upazila of Dhaka, had been working as an assistant to an operator at the factory for the last four years, Brojen Das, an uncle of Gopal said.
He had been living with his mother Gita Rani Das. There were serious talks on him getting married soon. “Now there is no one to look after his mother,” said Brojen.
Deceased factory worker Rafiqul Islam of Hossainpur in Kishoreganj was supposed to leave today to celebrate Eid with his family. He took his salary earlier and was supposed to get his bonus today.
He was on the graveyard shift last night.
Sakib Hossain, son of Rafiqul Islam, said he has a brother and a sister. “My brother is in class-X at a local school in Tongi.”
He said as his mother was crying near the factory.
Deceased Al Mamun, 40, of Paschim Fuljhuri in Mathbaria upazila of Pirojpur, had been working at the factory for 10 years, Sagir Hossain, brother-in-law of Mamun said.
He had bought a small piece of land at Purba Arichpur in Tongi to build a home and was expected to celebrate Eid with his family, said Sagir.
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