After both her children had died prematurely soon after their births, Champa Begum still hoped that she and her husband would be able to heal their emotional wounds and build a bright future for themselves.
But hopes of that luminous future went up in flames yesterday when Champa’s husband Nur Alam succumbed to the burn injuries he suffered in the Jatrabari petrol bomb attack on January 23.
The 40-year-old contractor had been fighting for over a week at the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, but he finally lost the battle yesterday at 1pm.
Overwhelmed with grief, Champa had been continuously fainting since losing her husband.
Partha Shankar Pal, resident surgeon of DMCH burn institute, told the Dhaka Tribune that Alam was suffering with burn injuries to 48% of his body, while his respiratory system had also been totally damaged.
After getting married five years ago, the Nur-Champa couple lived at Bhulta area in Narayanganj. On the day of the incident, Nur was returning home after visiting his sister – Rehana Begum – in the capital’s Mirpur area.
Rehana said when her brother left for Narayanganj after having a little snack at her place on that fateful Friday, she could not even imagine such sufferings lay ahead for Nur.
Miscreants torched the bus Nur was on near Katherpool in Jatrabari, leaving at least 30 people injured. So far, Nur is the only fatality from the incident, while around eight victims from that fire continue to receive treatment at the DMCH.
Despite the severity of his wounds, Nur stayed optimistic about his own recovery and reassured relatives throughout the ordeal that he would be able to heal and return home soon, Rehana said.
However, Nur had to be taken to the intensive care unit three days back as his condition deteriorated. It was there that he drew last breath yesterday.
Since the 20-party alliance’s blockade began on January 6, the DMCH burn institute has seen seven deaths so far, while nearly 100 more have received treatment for arson-related injuries.
Currently the institute is treating 50 patients; six victims are undergoing treatment at the ICU and seven others at the High Dependency Unit.
A close call with death
Retired police constable Jamal Uddin and his family narrowly escaped with their lives on Friday when the bus they were on was set ablaze near Khilgaon.
In the incident, four people suffered burn wounds including 20% injuries sustained by Jamal while his wife Khadiza Begum was also burnt in the fire.
The couple was returning to their Rampura house from Jatrabari, accompanied by their daughter Fatema Aktehr Dipa and seven-month-old granddaughter Arma Mahmud Tuna. When the vehicle was torched, Dipa also broke a leg while trying to jump off from the burning bus.
Recollecting the events of the day, Jamal said: “We took a Balaka Paribahan bus from Jatrabari area and we saw that four young men also got on the bus from the spot. They were aged between 18 to 25. They sat right behind us and started talking about different issues.”
Jamal said he overheard one of the young men say that he had spoken to a “boro bhai (big brother),” and soon afterwards another of the group loudly said he was feeling unwell and all the four men got down from the bus under the Khilgaon flyover.
As soon as the men stepped off, the seats in the back started burning, said Jamal, adding that he was the last passenger to get off from the burning bus after ensuring that others had been able to disembark safely.
“I have strong doubts that these four young men might have been responsible for the fire and that they had used gunpowder to start the flames as there was no other sound [of explosion] or liquid substance seen inside the bus,” the retired constable said.
