Lives lost in Banani fire

At least 25 have died in the devastating fire in Banani’s multi-storey RF Tower, Dhaka’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Abu Fateh Md Shafiqul Islam has said. The bodies of the victims have been handed over to their loved ones.

The grieving families picked up the bodies of 10 victims from Dhaka Medical College Hospital, six from Kurmitola Hospital, four from the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), three from United Hospital, one from Apollo Hospital and another body from Banani Clinic, the additional deputy commissioner added.

The Banani Police have released a list of the names and addresses of the 25 victims which puts an end to any lingering confusion over the number of casualties.

About 21 units of the fire service were engaged in efforts to tame a blaze which broke out in the 23-floor FR Tower on Thursday afternoon. The flames were fully doused after nearly seven and a half hours of efforts.

While the police confirmed the death of 25 victims on Thursday, the fire service put the number of casualties at 19.

Some of the dead victims were burned or suffocated while the others jumped off to their death. But it has been difficult to determine the cause of deaths as most of the bodies were handed over without post-mortem.

A post-mortem was conducted on only one of the dead victims, the additional deputy commissioner told bdnews24.com.

The bodies of the other victims were transferred without post-mortem at the request of their families.

The body of Sri Lankan national Nirosh Vignarajah, 28, who jumped off the building to escape the fire, has been transferred to officials of his country’s mission in Bangladesh, said Shafiqul Islam.

Banani Police SI Gulshan Ara said that the list of casualties was compiled on the basis of information provided by hospital authorities and families of the victims. The police have not received reports of any missing persons after the incident.

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