Mirpur fire: Death toll rises to three

A man succumbed to his burns on Thursday morning, a day after losing his wife and seven-month-old son in a fire triggered by technical glitches in a gas pipeline.

Manik Mia, 35, died when he was under treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He had 96 percent of his body burned, said Sub-Inspector Bachchu Miah of DMCH Police Camp, quoting the doctors. 

His wife Mina Akhter, 22, died during the treatment in the burns unit of DMCH on Wednesday. She had 80 percent of her body burned, according to resident doctor Partha Shankar Pal. Her death came hours after their seven-month-old son Tamim died.

A room on the ground floor of a five-storey-building in the section 11 neighbourhood of Mirpur caught fire on Tuesday.

Manik, the caretaker of the building, lived in that room with his family. Two units of fire service rescued and hospitalised the three.

Abdullah Al Arefin, a senior officer at Mirpur Fire Service Station, said the fire originated from a leak in the gas pipeline that went along the building.

“The fire started on the ground floor of the five-storey building after someone lit a cigarette.”