4, including 3 of a family, die from electrocution on flooded Mirpur street
Heavy rain floods Dhaka streets, grinds traffic to halt
Four people, including three of a family, died after being electrocuted in the capital's Mirpur last night as they came into contact with a live electric wire that fell on a waterlogged street.
The incident occurred near Mirpur Commerce College around 9:45pm, Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Mirpur Police Station, told The Daily Star.
The victims were Mizan, 30, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, his wife Mukta, 25, seven-year-old daughter Lima, and another man named Anik, 20.
The couple's six-month-old son Hossain was injured in the incident and is under treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
OC Mohsin said the family was trying to cross the road. When they got electrocuted, Anik went to save them.
After intermittent rain all day, a heavy shower in the late evening inundated a large part of the capital, flooding streets and causing the traffic system to almost collapse.
Streets in Dhanmondi, Elephant Road, New Market, Mirpur, Banani, Eskaton, Green Road, Panthapath, Shewrapara areas were submerged.
Even Manik Mia Avenue and Mirpur Road near Dhanmondi-27 were waterlogged and gridlocked as late as 2:00am today.
Scores of vehicles were seen broken down on submerged streets.
Many took to social media to express their frustration over being stuck in traffic for hours on end or being unable to wade through waist-deep water on certain streets.
People, mostly returning home after work, were seen taking shelter in front of various offices, markets, and shopping malls. They had serious trouble finding transport home.
Akash Roy was on the way to his Uttara home from Farmgate. He was stuck near Bijoy Sarani for two hours. He then decided to go towards Shewrapara where his CNG-run auto-rickshaw broke down on a street under knee-deep water.
Hafiz Mollah, who went to Karwan Bazar to buy fish in the evening, got stuck there until around 11:00pm. While trying to return to his Mirpur home, he got stuck on Manik Mia Avenue for over an hour. Then he started walking.
The Meteorological Department recorded 113mm of rain from 6:00pm to 12:00am yesterday, said Omar Faruq, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
Moderate to heavy rains are expected till today due to a low pressure in the northwest Bay of Bengal and surrounding areas, the meteorologist said.