Family of four unreachable after fire kills 10 at Cox’s Bazar resort

Relatives have been looking for a family of four since the fire at TUPTUP Resto and Resort in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya.

The blaze on Saturday morning killed 10 people, among them six members of one family, at the resort on Marine Drive in Inani’s Patuartek.

Nahidur Rahman Tuhin, an official at Dhaka-based Grand Power Limited, is missing with his wife, identified only as Afsana, and their daughters, 7-year-old Robaina and 3-year-old Sunaina -- both identified by single names.

Nahidur worked at the company’s office in Shyamoli and lived in the capital with his family.

Relatives are anxious after failing to reach Nahidur since the fire. Family members and colleagues are asking around in different places to find them.

Nahidur had booked a room at the resort from Oct 16 to 18. A copy of the booking bill has reached bdnews24.com.

It shows he made the booking on Oct 11 and was due to check out at 1pm on Oct 18.

Police and the Fire Service and Civil Defence say the fire broke out at 6:30am on Saturday. It took two hours to bring it under control, around 8:30am.

Ten bodies were recovered, but they were charred beyond recognition, and DNA tests will have to confirm their identities.

Cox’s Bazar Additional Police Superintendent Ahidur Rahman said late on Saturday that it was known Nahid was missing. He could say nothing about the others.

Nahidur’s elder brother Zahidur Rahman Prince told journalists his brother had said he would go to Cox’s Bazar on Friday.

He phoned him after learning of the fire on Saturday, but could not reach Nahidur or anyone in his family.

Mirza Rakibuzzaman, managing director of Grand Power Limited, said he is in China but has heard the news. After hearing it, he and the company’s staff tried to contact Nahidur but failed.

“I have felt very helpless since I heard the news. Nahid was a very good officer,” he said.

Nahidur was a second-batch student of Maulana Bhashani Science and Technology University, studying criminology and police science.

Tahira Siddika Suchi, his junior from the seventh batch at the university, says Nahidur’s family is anxious. His elderly parents are at home and cannot reach him.

Several people were rescued alive after the fire. Neither Nahidur nor any of his family appears on the list of survivors.

Dolan Acharya, senior station officer of the Cox’s Bazar Fire Service, said: “Six bodies were recovered first, and they were badly mangled. Four more were later recovered from a toilet, among them a child and two women.

“Nobody can be recognised by their face. We handed the bodies over to Ukhiya police. Identification is simply not possible without DNA tests.”

Police officer Rahman says information has been found on the identities of six missing people, but four others are yet to be identified. DNA samples are being collected to identify the bodies.