A man died and 10 others sustained injuries as a wall of a concrete water tank on the roof of a four-storey mosque collapsed and fell on a laundry adjacent to it in the capital’s Fakirapool yesterday.
The deceased, Abdus Salam, 45, was a worker at the laundry named Sunlight Ideal Home Dry Cleaners located right beside the Fakirapool Bazar Jame Mosque. A total of 12 men were working inside the laundry when the water tank collapsed on them.
The mosque’s caretaker Waliullah told reporters that he was on the first floor when the accident took place in the evening. He said a portion of the wall of the water tank collapsed with a bang and then it fell on the laundry.
“Water was pouring out of the tank. The wall of the tank could not bear the pressure of water,” he said.
Salam who comes from Manikganj lived at Fakirapool with his wife.
Another worker of the laundry Nawab Ali who also suffered minor injuries said: “A heavy object dropped on us out of nowhere. Salam died on the spot when he got mostly buried under the object. It fell directly on him.”
He said nine other people who were also working at that time were also injured. Two of them –Jakir and Sohag – were badly injured and were taken to a local hospital.
Locals rescued all the victims before fire-fighter personnel arrived there.
