Nazmul Hassan, a student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Brac University, is missing since the massive fire that took lives of 46 people in Dhaka’s Bailey Roadon Thursday night.
Family members of Nazmul are visiting various hospitals in search of him.
His family came to know about him when one of Nazmul’s friends informed them that he was trapped inside the Cozy Cottage building that housed six eateries.
“Nazmul went to a restaurant in the gutted building on Bailey Road with four of his friends. Just after the fire caught the building, one of them sneaked out and informed them that Nazmul was trapped on the third floor. After that, we did not find any trace of him. Since last night we have searched every hospital. He was nowhere,” said Nazmul’s maternal uncle, Anwar Hossein Gazi. He came to Dhaka Medical College along with Nazmul’s father around 11:30am on Friday.
He said that one of the three friends who were trapped inside the building was dead, and another one is receiving treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn & Plastic Surgery.
“We could not identify my nephew’s body yet. So his father has come for a DNA test,” he added.
Referring to him as a talented student, Nazmul’s uncle said: “Nazmul got a Golden A plus from Motijheel Ideal School, he got another golden from Dhaka College. Now we can not find our golden boy.”
At least 46 people were killed, and over 20 others sustained severe injuries by a devastating fire on Thursday night.
Firefighters rescued 70 people, including 42 in unconscious state, from the rooftop and different floors of the seven-storey Green Cozy Cottage. The devastating fire originated from a shop in the building’s ground floor.
Most of the people died as they jumped off the building or from burns or suffocation, said firefighters who brought the fire under control around 12:30am.
Fire officials say the blaze spread fast due to the presence of gas cylinders on several floors in the restaurant kitchens. People could not leave the building due to smoke in the staircase.