Man, son die in Old Dhaka building collapse

Rescuers have found the body of a 60-year-old man and his teenaged son in the debris of a building that collapsed at Patuatuli in Old Dhaka.

The deceased have been identified as Jahidul Bepari and his son Shafiqul Bepari, 18, according to Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Fire Service Deputy Director Debashish Bardhan told bdnews24.com about the finding of Jahidul’s body around 8pm on Wednesday.

Mohammad Ali, senior station manager of the fire service, confirmed the end of the search for Shafiqul’s body after about four more hours.

He added it would take time to pull the bodies from the rubble.

When the decades-old building beside Sumana Hospital near Sadarghat crumbled around 1:30pm, Kotwali Police OC Shahedur Rahman said there were unconfirmed reports that two people were trapped.

He also said the building belongs to the government, but could not say which agency supervises it.

The fire service launched a rescue operation as relatives claimed Jahidul and Shafiqul were trapped.

“All of the two-storey structure collapsed in a heap," Fire Service’s Mohammad Ali told bdnews24.com.

Locals said the hundred-year-old building was mainly abandoned, but some fruit vendors used to live there.