Families lost in flame
It was a leap day on Thursday, and many decided to celebrate the day that comes every four years with dreams and promises to be in a better place in life when the next one arrives.
Twenty-six-year-old Ria Moni also decided to mark the day alongside her sister Arisa, 13, a class eight student of the Viqarunnisa Noon School & College, and cousin Nimu, 23, a City College student.
Ria, a final-semester student of fashion design at a Malaysian university, came home on February's first week on vacation and was supposed to go back on today's flight.
However, fate took a tragic turn, as the three sisters went to have kachchi at Kacchi Bhai to celebrate the day before Ria returned to Malaysia, and they were caught in the devastating fire that broke out at the seven-story building on Bailey Road where the restaurant was located.
All three of them lost their lives on the fateful leap day.
Ria's father, Korban Ali, was seen lamenting in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital's emergency unit morgue around 2:30am early yesterday.
When this correspondent tried to communicate with him, the grieving father was having a difficult time to express his emotions.
Ria's paternal uncle Wahiduzzaman said, "All three sisters died from the fire after being trapped inside the building."
"Ria was supposed to leave for Malaysia on Saturday. Her death, alongside her sisters, has caused Korban to lose his mind. He lost control of his emotions," Wahiduzzaman added.
WOMAN DIES AFTER SAVING HER FAMILY
Thirty-year-old Tanzila Esha also went to Kacchi Bhai that night.
She went there with her six-year-old son Arham, her brother's wife Lamia Tabbassum, and Tabassum's two daughters Ayra and Naba.
When Tanzila learned about the fire, she broke the window of the restaurant and helped her son Arham to go out first, then Tabassum, Ayra, and Naba, respectively. But she failed to go out and died in the fire as it had already spread.
Tanzila's cousin Toukir Mujib disclosed the incident after identifying her body at the DMCH morgue around 2:00am early yesterday.
Tanzila's body was taken to her village home in Pirojpur.
A FAMILY LOST IN FLAME
On the tragic night, a mother died along with her two children while having food at a restaurant on the third floor of the building.
Nazia lived with her husband Ashiq, a businessman, and two children -- Ayat, 8, and Ayan, 6, -- in the capital's Bailey Road area. In the evening, she called her husband, who was at his office, saying she was going to the restaurant as their children were crying.
Around 10:30pm, Nazia again called Ashiq and said a fire broke out in the restaurant, and she lost her younger son Ayan amid the commotion. Later, Nazia could not be reached on her phone.
Rifat, a cousin of Ashiq, said Ayan was found on the stairs of the building, and Nazia and Ayat's bodies were at the DMCH morgue.
"Bhaiya (Ashiq) was living a happy life with his family. And now everything is lost," he said.