Two unidentified charred bodies from Saturday’s fire at a Mirpur factory have finally been identified by the victims’ relatives at the Dhaka Medical College morgue.
The bodies of Johirul Islam, 20, hailing from Ilisha in Bhola; and Afzal Hossain, 26, hailing from Savar’s Baliapur, were handed over to their families after Johirul’s maternal uncle Amzad and Afzal’s brother Sajjad Hossain identified them yesterday.
On Saturday, 13 people were killed when a styrofoam packaging factory – APCCO Bangladesh Ltd – was gutted by a devastating fire at Mirpur 1 in the capital.
Three more people – security supervisor Towhidul Islam, 50, security guard Kamal Hossain, 35, and worker Robiul Islam, 35 – were also admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in critical conditions.
On Sunday, 11 of the victims were identified by their families and were taken from the morgue for burial. As most of the bodies were charred, they had to be identified through their dresses, ornaments or birthmarks. Each family was given Tk20,000 from the prime minister’s relief fund as burial cost.
Fire service officials suspect that the fire originated from an electrical short circuit on the ground floor and spread quickly following boiler explosions.
A three-member probe committee has been formed by the fire service, while it is scheduled to submit its report today.
Set up in 2006, the factory used plastic and foam to make disposable household goods. It used to be run on two shifts, while factory sources said around 75-80 workers used to work in each shift.
