Bound man with mental disability burns to death in Chattogram fire

A bound man with mental disabilities has burnt to death in a fire at a colony in Chattogram’s Chandgaon. The fire also burnt down at least three dozen makeshift buildings in the colony.

The fire started around 10am on Sunday in Chandgaon Thana’s North Faridapara area, said Fire Service Chattogram Office Assistant Director Kamal Uddin.

Eight fire service units were dispatched to the area and brought the fire under control around 11:45am, he said.

According to local residents the deceased was 30-year-old Md Rabiul. They said he was unable to work because of his mental disability. The family subsisted through his mother’s begging.

“His mother shackled him to the house this morning as she usually does,” Kamal Uddin said, citing witnesses. “The other residents of the colony managed to flee the fire, but he was not able to.”

The body was recovered by the fire service after the restraints were cut.

Kamal Uddin said that 36 houses had burned in the fire. Local residents say a child is also missing.

Fire service officials are searching for the child. The extent of the fire’s damage has yet to be calculated.