N’ganj fire: With agony, relatives waiting for bodies

"I am stuck on the fourth floor as all the stairs to get out are locked. There is no way out. I am about to suffocate. Forgive me and pray for me. Please take care of my sons, my youngest son," those were the last words of Mohammad Ali, a former worker at Shezan juice factory in Narayanganj, who has been missing since the fire broke out in the factory on Thursday.

Ali's brother Mizanur Rahman, who was waiting in front of the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in search of his brother's body, said that Ali called them at 6:30pm when he was gasping for air. He has been unreachable over the phone since then.

With the hope that his brother's body would be found at the morgue, his father and he came to DMCH to submit samples. If the DNA matches, they can take the body.

Ali had worked at the Shezan juice factory for five years.

Shocked by the sudden losses of near and dear ones, family members and relatives of the deceased in the Narayanganj fire have rushed to the morgue of DMCH in search of their wife, daughter, mother, sister and relatives.

After the devastating fire gutted the Shezan juice factory in Narayanganj on Thursday, the bodies were sent to the hospital for DNA identification.

Md Mustakim, who works during another shift at the factory, lost his mother. She was working on the third floor and burnt to death in the fire.

He said his mother called him and lamented that she would not be able to meet me again. Half an hour later, she and some of her colleagues dropped a shoe outside through a window with a couple of lines scribed on it, "Nobody can save us now. Goodbye!"

"Both staircases on that section of the floor were locked. Elevators were off too. There was no way for anyone to escape," Mustakim told The Business Standard.

Later he was told to visit the DMCH morgue for obvious reasons.

Mustakim joined the factory at the age of 14 and he has been working there for four years. Each shift comprises 100-150 workers. He said he had never seen any fire exit or proper firefighting equipment.

The deadly blaze killed at least 52 people and many remain missing. The fire started creeping from below in the afternoon. By noon, it reached the second floor and by afternoon it reached the third floor. At first, the firefighters could not enter because of the excessive heat.

According to Siddhirganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mashiur Rahman, 25 bodies were taken to DMCH morgue, 15 to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and eight to the emergency department of DMCH.

Kabir Hossain, whose 18-year-old son Rakib Hossain, used to work in the factory, came to the DMCH morgue in search of his son. His blood sample has been collected and his son's body would be handed over to him if DNA tests match.

He said he has been waiting here since 3pm. The hospital did not show us the bodies saying they are beyond recognition

A team from the Forensic DNA Lab of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started collecting samples to identify the 49 burnt bodies in the devastating fire at the Shezan Juice factory in Narayanganj's Rupganj on Thursday.

It may take 21 to 30 days to identify the bodies through DNA tests, said CID Special Superintendent of Police (Forensic) Romana Akhter.

Rabeya, 16, another juvenile worker from Kishoreganj, is also missing since Thursday night. Her father Bacchu Miah came to find his only daughter who had joined the factory just a month ago and worked on the 4th floor in the chocolate making unit.

Bacchu Miah heard the news on Thursday night through television. He could not sleep at all and started his journey to Naraynganj Bhulta from Kishoreganj after the Fajr (dawn) prayers. It took the 65-year-old man around five hours to reach the spot by rickshaw, van and sometimes pickup van and some other vehicles amid the countrywide lockdown.

He told TBS he at least needed to find his daughter's body although the fire mostly havocked the fourth floor.

Another deceased was Md Nazmul, 17. His father Chan Miah was devastated by the irreparable loss.

"Nazmul had been working in the factory for two months. He was promised to get Tk6,000 per month as salary but he was not paid anything yet. On Friday morning, he called me and said he was planning to come home on Eid with his arrears," the father was sobbing.

Mina Begum, 22, worked on the fourth floor. She went missing too and her aunt Shahana Begum came to find her holding a passport size photo in her hands.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people rushed in front of the factory in Rupganj, Narayanganj in search of their relatives.