‘I’m not leaving my son’
"Fire, fire".
Sharmin Akter, 22, woke up hearing these desperate cries which shattered the stillness of the night in Mollabari Slum in Tejgaon yesterday. Her immediate thought was to save her one-and-a-half-year-old son, Nafi Hossain.
But by then, it was too late. Flames had already engulfed their surroundings.
Her 12-year-old brother, Abdullah Hossain Likhon, somehow managed to crawl to safety from the tin-shed rooftop.
He lived to tell the story, but the traumatic events of that night now weighs heavily on him with memories that will haunt him for a lifetime.
Sharmin and Nafi were not supposed to be in the slum in the first place.
She came to visit her mother Lipi Begum from her in-law's house in Jamalpur on January 8, with plans to return on Monday.
The fire, which erupted around 2:20am, claimed the lives of both Sharmin and her son.
Thirteen units of the fire service brought the blaze under control by 5:50am, Lt Col Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director of operations and maintenance at the fire service, told The Daily Star.
Including Likhon, four other residents of the slum received burn injuries. Of the injured -- Nazma Akter, 25, with 23 percent burns, her four-year-old-son Nazrul Islam with eight percent burns, and her brother-in-law Nur Mohammad, 28 with three percent burns are undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Burn & Plastic Surgery.
Abdullah is suffering from 10 percent burns and undergoing treatment at a city hospital.
Sumaiya Akter, younger sister of Sharmin, said, "We were sleeping in two adjacent rooms. We woke up hearing a scream of fire and somehow managed to get out."
"While getting out, my brother saw Sharmin tossing her baby into our room, believing it to be safe as their sleeping quarters were already consumed by flames. She quickly realised that our room was also ablaze. We told her to get out but she said she won't leave her son. Without hesitation, she rushed to the room and held the baby boy in her arms. But at the end, both of them could not survive," she added.
"Likhon witnessed it all and wanted to rescue them, but my mother stopped him... she didn't want to lose her son too," she cried.
The bodies of Sharmin and Nafi have been charred beyond recognition, and are kept at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital morgue for a DNA test.
WALKING THROUGH HELLFIRE TO SAVE HER SON
While Sharmin died trying to save her son, injured Nazma saved hers by putting her life on the line.
"I initially rushed out upon hearing the scream, only to realise I had left my son behind. I re-entered the home to rescue him. The fire had already engulfed our room. I found him crying in a corner. I wrapped my arms around him, and brought him outside."
"It felt as if I was walking through hellfire," said Nazma.
300 FAMILIES LOSE EVERYTHING
At least 300 shanties were gutted in the fire. The rooms are made of bamboo, wood, and tin and this is why the fire spread fast, said the fire service.
The fire service formed a five-member probe body to investigate the incident. The committee was asked to submit the report within the next 15 days.
Habibur Rahman, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they are investigating the matter.
Meanwhile, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md Aitqul Islam announced to pay Tk 5,000 to each family affected by the fire and Tk 10,000 to each with special needs.
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