‘If had a minute or two, I could’ve saved my wife’

Survivor recounts escape as 6 family members feared dead

Ashikul Islam’s wife, Israt Jahan Maliha, woke him up early yesterday morning as the couple and her family prepared to leave Tup Tup Resort in Cox’s Bazar’s Inani.

She then went to the other rooms to wake the rest of the family, while Ashikul remained in bed.

That was the last time he saw her.

About 10 minutes later, Ashikul heard a commotion outside and stepped out of their room, only to find flames engulfing the resort.

“As soon as I opened the door and stepped out, I felt the heat of the flames on my face. Within moments, smoke filled the room. The fire outside was terrifying. Our room was on the first floor, and I somehow managed to break a window and jump out.”

The fire had broken out at the resort around 6:30am.

Two Fire Service units brought it under control by 8:15am. Fire Service officials said 10 bodies were recovered from the scene.

Ashikul had travelled from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar with nine members of his wife’s family for a holiday. They arrived on Thursday morning (October 15) and were scheduled to leave for Dhaka at 10:00am yesterday.

One family member, however, had left Cox’s Bazar the previous night, leaving nine at the resort when the fire broke out. Of them, Ashikul and two others escaped, while the remaining six, including Maliha, are missing and feared dead.

The other two survivors, Maliha’s maternal uncle Masud and his wife Nila, also received treatment at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital. All three were flown to Dhaka in the evening.

The three were among at least nine survivors this correspondent saw at the hospital following the fire.

Fire Service officials said the recovered bodies could not be identified because they were severely burnt.

At the hospital, Ashikul repeatedly broke down in tears as he recounted his ordeal.

“If I had stayed there for even one more minute, I would have suffocated to death … If only I had had another minute or two, I could have rescued my wife.”

The six missing family members are Maliha, 28; her sisters, Layla Jahan Nabila, 26, and Fariha Kabir, 33; Fariha’s five-year-old son, Faizan Ahmed; and Maliha’s cousins, Milita Mehzabin Alvi, 23, and Md Nafis Tehami, 26.

Ashikul said Fariha’s husband, Ifti, had left for Chuadanga the previous night.

Around 2:00pm yesterday, Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner A Mannan visited the injured at Sadar Hospital, where Ashikul provided details of his missing family members.

The DC said DNA samples were being taken from the recovered bodies, which would be handed over to their families once their identities were confirmed by matching the samples with those of relatives.

“However, as the identification process is still underway, we cannot immediately confirm whether any of the six missing family members are among the recovered bodies,” he added.

Abdul Ahad Sarkar, a Jagannath University student and a relative of the family, said six of the nine family members staying at the resort had died, while three were injured.

“One brother-in-law had already returned last night. Of the remaining nine who were there, six [presumably] died and three were injured,” Ahad said.

Nabila had studied chemistry at Jagannath University, while Tehami was studying Chinese language and culture at Dhaka University’s Institute of Modern Languages.

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof ABM Obaidul Islam expressed deep sorrow over the deaths and called for the cause of the fire to be determined and those responsible brought to justice. He said the university would also provide necessary assistance to the bereaved family.

(Our DU and JnU correspondents contributed to this report.)