Five madrasa students burnt by electrical flash in Fatullah

A brush with electricity on a rooftop has left five students burnt at a women's madrasa in Narayanganj's Fatullah.

The incident happened around 5pm on Saturday at Mahela Khatun Women’s Madrasa in Kashipur Hajipara, after which the students were admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka later that night.

The injured students have been identified only as Zidni, 14, Lamia, 13, Sumaiya, 13, Achhia, 12, and Atia, 11.

Burn institute resident doctor Sultan Mahmud Shikder said Zidni suffered burns to 82 percent of her body, Lamia 55 percent, Atia 45 percent, Sumaiya 13 percent and Achia 7 percent.

Police and Fire Service and Civil Defence officials said the students had gone to play on the roof of the madrasa’s four-storey building.

They had sugarcane with them to eat, while a 33,000-volt power line runs over the roof.

The students are believed to have been burnt when the sugarcane accidentally touched the line, triggering a loud flash and fire.

Madrasa teachers and locals first took the injured to Narayanganj General Hospital.

Md Morshed Ul Alam Khan, a doctor at the hospital's emergency department, said: "The five were brought in around 7:30pm. After giving them painkiller injections, saline and oxygen, they were sent to Dhaka."

Md Abdul Halim, senior station officer of Fatullah BSCIC Fire and Civil Defence, inspected the site and said: "Sugarcane with fresh leaves was found on the rooftop. It's believed the sugarcane touched the 33,000-volt line, causing a flash that started the fire."

"There was also an explosion at a gas riser on the building's ground floor. It's believed a gas leak may have ignited during the electrical spark, though there was no major damage on the ground floor."

Lamia’s mother Sathi Begum said she had left her daughter at the madrasa and was returning home when a madrasa teacher called to say her child had been injured and burnt.

She rushed to the scene and found people gathered there, while locals were saying a transformer had caught fire.

Zidni’s mother said she rushed to the scene after hearing about the incident and learnt that her daughter and four others had been burnt. They later went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Achhia said five of them had been playing on the roof with a woman named Mariam, who taught them. A sudden sound came as they played, followed by a burst of heat that burnt them.