Fauzia Afrin Ria was scheduled to fly to Malaysia on Friday night and came to Bailey Road along with her sibling Sadia Afrin Alisha and maternal cousin Nusrat Jahan Nimu on Thursday night for shopping and to meet one of their aunt.
At one stage, they entered Kacchi Bhai restaurant.
Three sisters died there in the devastating fire that took the lives of 46 people in Dhaka’s Bailey Road on Thursday night.
“My two mothers went there and never returned. Before leaving for Bailey Road, Ria said that they will return soon,” saying this, father Korban Ali burst into tears.
Ria and Alisha are the daughters of Korban Ali of Charbari area of Perul Dakshin union of Lalmai upazila in Comilla. Riya is a final year MBA student in a university in Malaysia. And Sadia Afrin Alisha is an eighth grade student of Viqarunnisa Noon School in Dhaka. Their cousin Nimu died in the same incident.
Nimu is the daughter of Abdul Quddus of Hatigara area of Sadar Upazila and a student of Dhaka City College. They went shopping together.
Korban Ali said that Ria was supposed to go to Malaysia on Friday night. Tickets were also bought. But she died last night. Nimu is their cousin.
“My house, which was full of joy, became empty within a gap of a day” said the father of the siblings.
During a visit to the Charbari area, it was seen that there was a crowd of neighbours in that house. Tears were in everyone's eyes. Women crowded around the ambulance carrying the bodies. Some were found crying, even holding the ambulance.
Korban Ali said that when the rescue of survived people was over, his body was trembling in fear. He was sweating.
"Tears were in my eyes with heartfelt pain. However, after some moments, the bodies were handed over to us. The girls, who gave me a farewell with joy in the evening, became charred bodies. I came home with the bodies of my two dreams.”
Blaming the government, he said: “We who live in Dhaka, are always in fear. No one is safe. When an accident happens, everyone is shaken. After a few days it is back to normal. They did not burn to death, they died of suffocation as they couldn't get out. The fire service tried to bring the fire under control. But for dish line cable, internet cable and electric cable, their vehicles could not be placed in the right place and could not spray water. And the result is corpse after corpse.”
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 fire broke out at around 9:45pm.
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.
