Mamunur Rashid, 34, a betel leaf wholesale trader, was driving his truck to Pabna from Jhenidah. Upon reaching Charmatha in Bogra on Wednesday, his truck came under a patrol bomb attack. Before police and fire service officials could douse the fire, both the truck and 25% of Rashid’s body were burnt.
Losing everything in the attack, Rashid is now undergoing treatment at the DMCH burn and plastic surgery institute. Over the last 24 hours, three burn victims from Bogra and Feni have come to DMCH, raising the number of hospital burn victims to 120.
Dr Partha Shankar Pal, a DMCH burn institute resident surgeon, told the Dhaka Tribune that since the blockade began, 120 victims had been treated in the hospital, with 64 still undergoing treatment. Among these 64, 13 are in critical condition, and six in the ICU, while seven others are in the high dependency unit, he added.
During a hospital visit, this correspondent talked with Rashid’s elder daughter, Mousumi Akther Sima, who said she has three other sisters and one brother, and their father had been running the business for the last 20 years. Upon collecting the leaves from Jhenidah and Jessore, he would sell them in Dinajpur.
Sima added that last Wednesday, when her father reached Charmatha at 2.30am, the truck came under attack. The truck helper and driver were also burnt, and admitted to Sahid Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital where they died.
“Now, my father’s condition is also critical,” she said. “If he cannot work, then who will provide for us?” she added.
Meanwhile, the conditions of Marium Rupa, 6, and Rakib Mia, 12, who were burned in Gazipur Wednesday night, at Balaka Paribahan, are critical, and DMCH doctors have shifted Rupa to the ICU.
Such horrendous conditions are being witnessed not only in Dhaka but in almost all the 14 medical colleges with burn facilities. Saidur Rahman, a truck driver, is undergoing treatment at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital burn unit, for a 28% burn injury.
Last Monday around 9pm, Saidur and his assistant, Sahidul Islam, came under a petrol bomb attack near Mollapara in Rajshahi. With 20% burns on his body, Sahidul is also being treated at the RMCH burn unit.
Another blockade victim at RMCH, Faruq Hossain, has 5% burns on his body, including his lung system. Faruq was also attacked Monday night at Bongram while travelling there by truck.
Faruq, in a pained voice, said: “I used to work as a helper, and suddenly became jobless. At the time, I ran the household by taking loans from NGOs, who contacted me to repay the loan, and so I had to venture out of the house to collect money for it.”
Rani, Faruq’s wife, said: “We are already managing our family with loans from NGOs and now Faruq is in the hospital. I don’t know what will happen to our family and how we will survive.”
According to the RMCH registrar, 18 victims are being treated there since the blockade began. Of these, eight are now undergoing treatment, while one has been shifted to the DMCH burn institute.