Nadira Akter Poppy, mother of three-year-old Yasin, left no stone unturned to save her child from a fire on the Mohonganj Express in the early hours of yesterday, which claimed four lives, including theirs.
When firemen recovered their bodies, they saw Poppy hugging her son even after death.
Tejgaon Railway Station became heavy with the tears of people who had just lost their loved ones in the arson attack. They had only one question in their mind: why did they have to die in such a tragic manner?
Poppy set out for Dhaka from Netrokona on the Mohonganj Express on Monday night with nine other family members. Five of them got off at the airport station. Poppy, her husband and their two children were to get down at Kamalapur Railway Station.
Suddenly the J compartment was filled with smoke. People started to get off at Tejgaon Railway Station screaming “fire, fire!”
Only four people could not get off the train. Among them were Poppy and her three-year-old boy, Yasin.
Poppy’s brother-in-law Minhazur Rahman, said: “When the train caught fire, my brother and his nine-year-old son Mahin were able to get down from the train. They realized that Poppy and Yasin were not with them. They could do nothing but watch them burning inside the train. Later, the fire service team recovered their bodies.”
“My sister-in-law and her son were not in politics. Then why were they burned alive in the name of a hartal?”
“If the [railway] authorities cannot provide safety to passengers, why do they run the service amid political unrest?” he asked.
Items belonging to passengers were scattered inside the three compartments burned in the blaze.
Fire Service Senior Station Officer Nazimuddin Sarkar said it is thought that the fire was set by using petrol or any chemical. An investigation team has been formed to investigate the arson, he added.
Bodies of mother-son handed over without post-mortem
Meanwhile, the bodies of Poppy and her son Yasin were handed over to the family without any post-mortem examination.
The family members took their bodies from the morgue in the afternoon. Confirming the matter, Dhaka Railway police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ferdous Ahamed Biswas said: “I have heard that the body of another person has been identified. It is being verified.”
