A five-member investigation committee has been formed following reports that six people died in a stampede after a fire broke out in a lift at the new building of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
Professor Golam Rahman of the hospital’s Department of Medicine will head the committee.
The other members are hospital Assistant Director (Administration) Dr Mainuddin Khan, an assistant director of the Fire Service, an executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), and a PWD electrical engineer.
The hospital authorities formed the committee on Tuesday morning and asked it to submit its report within three working days.
A fire broke out in a lift under construction at the hospital’s new building on Monday evening. Several people were injured while rushing down the stairs following the incident.
Reports later spread through the media and social media that six people, including a child, had died in the incident.
Senior administrative officials visited the hospital later that night and held a closed-door meeting.
Although four deaths were reported following the fire, authorities found no evidence that any of the victims died in a stampede.
Two of the victims died of natural causes, their families confirmed, while the causes of death of the other two remain unclear, Mymensingh Divisional Commissioner SM Humayun Kabir said.
