Mizan’s wait for relatives missing in launch fire
Returning from the Middle East after five years, Mizan invited his mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law and seven other in-laws in Dhaka to his house and was eagerly waiting to welcome the guests
Mizan and his family members were spending busy time at his home in Barguna sadar on Thursday preparing different types of foods and decorating the house as his mother-in-law and other in-laws would visit him the next day.
Returning from the Middle East after five years, Mizan invited his mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law and seven other in-laws in Dhaka to his house and was eagerly waiting to welcome the guests.
"I went to bed at night hoping to meet them in the morning but when I called them in the morning I found their phones switched off. After a while, a relative called me and said a fire broke out in the launch, MV Abhijan-10, they were on," said Mizan.
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Shocked, he rushed to Jhalakathi in search of them. He found one of his brothers-in-law, who escaped the fire by jumping off the launch, and two sisters-in-law in a critical condition.
Mizan said one of them was sent to Dhaka while another to Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal for treatment.
"I am feeling guilty as I invited them to my house," said Mizan, wailing.
The missing are his mother-in-law Nilufa, two sisters-in-law Shahnaj and Shathi, brother-in-law Saiful and his wife, three children Jibon, 7, Emon, 10 and Ahona, 5.
Mizan's eldest brother-in-law Rasel said he wanted to accompany his mother and others but he could not due to business engagement.
"The accident has ruined my family. I do not know whether or not I can see them again. I do not know who to blame for it," said Rasel.
Like Rasel and Mizan, hundreds were shedding tears and anxiously waiting on the banks of the River Sugandha for the missing family members and relatives.
At least 37 people have been killed and about 100 others injured after a packed launch caught fire in southern Bangladesh, local officials say.
The blaze on the three-decked vessel started mid-river near the town of Jhalakathi as it sailed from the capital Dhaka to the town of Barguna.
Some of the victims drowned after jumping into the water.
The number of casualties in Friday's disaster is likely to increase as many of the passengers have severe burns.
As many as 500 people were reportedly on board the vessel.
The fire is believed to have started in the engine room and quickly spread as the launch travelled along the River Sugandha in the early hours, fire services official Kamal Hossain Bhuiyan told local media.
