Md Ariful Islam, 35, a construction worker, died after falling from the under-construction central library building at Jahangirnagar University (JU).
The incident occurred around 11am on Friday, when he fell from the fourth floor of the building. His coworkers rescued him and first took him to the university’s medical center. Seeing the severity of his condition, the attending physician referred him to Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar. He died there while undergoing treatment around 5:30pm.
It has been reported that Ariful Islam was a resident of Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah district. He was working on a mosaic installation at the construction site.
Dr Ningtam, the attending physician at the university medical center, said: “Around 11am on Friday, a few people brought Ariful to the medical center. They said he had fallen from the building. He had injuries on his face, and some teeth were knocked out. Due to the critical condition, he was immediately referred to Enam Medical.”
According to university sources, the construction of the building is being carried out by a contracting company named Onik Trading Corporation.
Mominul Karim, chief engineer of Onik Trading Corporation, said: “I was informed via phone around noon that a worker had fallen from the building. He was taken to Enam Medical College Hospital and was under treatment there. Later in the evening, I was informed that he had passed away. Currently, our construction work has been halted. We suspect the accident may have occurred due to carelessness.”
Students of the university have expressed immediate outrage over the incident. They said that if the university administration had taken proper steps in time to formulate a master plan, and if workers had been ensured proper safety measures, this death might have been prevented.
Following the incident, the university administration held an emergency meeting at 11am, Saturday. Present at the meeting were Nasir Uddin, director of the university’s project, all faculty members involved in the overall and infrastructure monitoring committee, representatives from the contracting company Onik Traders responsible for the library or lecture-theater construction, as well as university students and journalists.
Regarding the overall situation, the university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan said: “This incident is extremely tragic. We have called an emergency administrative meeting. I want not just compensation, but also proper punishment for those responsible.”