DNA tests identify all 10 victims of Cox’s Bazar resort fire, but woman remains missing

DNA testing has identified all 10 people killed in the fire at TUPTUP Resto and Resort in Cox’s Bazar’s Inani, but one woman remains missing.

Police said the bodies would be handed over to families on Tuesday. The victims belonged to two Dhaka families, one with six members and the other four.

Investigation officer Rimon Ghosh said Monday that the DNA reports had arrived.

The six victims from one Dhaka family were Mouliha Mehzabin Alvi, 19; cousins Laila Jahan Nabila, 25, and Israt Jahan Maliha, 27; relative Faria Kabir, 33; her six-year-old son, Mohammad Faizan Noor; and her brother, Mohammad Nafis Tehami, 24.

The other four were Mohammad Nahidur Rahman, 41, an employee of Grand Power Ltd in Shyamoli; his wife, Afsana Matin, 36; and daughters Rozaina Inaya, 9, and Munaina Ihana, 6.

DNA from the recovered bodies did not match that of missing Nasrin Akter Mukta, 27, a teacher at Swapnobilash Niribili School in Ashulia, Savar.

She had visited Cox’s Bazar with two friends. “We matched the DNA samples of the 10 bodies. The other person’s sample was not found,” Ghosh told bdnews24.com.

Police filed a case against 23 people over the Oct 17 fire, naming resort owner Mohammad Tanvir Sultan Mia as the prime suspect.

He and co-owner Newaz Morshed remain at large. Assistant manager Zahid Hossain is the only person arrested.

The three-storey resort beside Marine Drive near Patuartek beach caught fire that morning. Ten bodies were recovered, while 11 people were listed as missing.