Aftabnagar fire: Four of 5 burn victims die

A child, who was injured in a fire in Dhaka's Aftabnagar, died yesterday, bringing the death toll to four out of the five members of the same family who were burnt in the incident.

Mithila Akter, 7, succumbed to her injuries around 8:30pm at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, residential surgeon at the institute.

"She had sustained 60 percent burns along with critical injuries to her airways. She was being treated in the High Dependency Unit [HDU], where she died," he said.

Earlier, her father Tofazzal Hossain, 32, mother Mansura Akter, 28, and younger sister Tanzila Akter, 4, died from their injuries.

The couple's eldest daughter, Tanisha, 11, is still undergoing treatment with 30 percent burns. Her condition is also critical, Dr Rahman added.

The fire broke out following a gas explosion around 11:30pm on May 16 in the ground-floor flat of a three-storey building at South Anandnagar in Aftabnagar. Mansura, her husband Tofazzal, and their three daughters -- Tanisha, Mithila, and Tanzila -- were severely burnt in the blast.

Mohammad Ripon, Mithila's brother-in-law, said gas was leaking from a nearby construction site where underground digging had damaged a pipeline. "We informed the landlord about the leak on the morning of the incident, but no action was taken," he said. "That night, while lighting a mosquito coil, the explosion occurred, engulfing the family in flames."

Tofazzal, a day labourer by profession, was the father of four daughters. All three of his younger daughters and his wife were injured in the blast. Only his eldest daughter, who happened to be at her grandparents' house at the time, escaped unhurt.

                      The family is from Thakurgaon Sadar upazila.