Government will bear treatment cost for Old Dhaka fire victims: Health minister

The government will pay for treatment of people injured in the deadly fire at Old Dhaka, Health Minister Zahid Malik has said.

He made the announcement while speaking to journalists after paying homage to Language martyrs at the Shaheed Minar in Sylhet on Thursday morning.

“There are sufficient medical facilities available for those injured in the fire. Dhaka Medical College Hospital and other hospitals have been given directives to provide the best treatment to the injured,” he said.

“The Chawkbazar fire incident is a repetition of the one that occurred in Nimtali,”said the minister.

The fire broke out in a four-storey building behind the Shahi Mosque at Churihatta around 10:30pm on Wednesday and later spread to four other buildings at the other side of the narrow street. 

Over 40 people were admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Of the nine of who suffered burn injuries, one 22-year-old Shohagh, a perfume store worker, is in critical condition with sixty percent burn wounds.

Fire service officials said 70 body bags were sent to the morgue at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. But doctors there counted 67 bodies, after piecing together body parts.

“Some of the bags contained only parts. Considering that, the total number of dead maybe 67,” said Prof Shohel Mahmood, head of Forensic Medicine at the hospital.

Some of the dead were burnt to the extent that made it impossible to identify the body.