Uncertainty grips victim family

Three members of a family, who were critically burned in a gas line explosion in the capital's Gendaria on July 5, are fighting for their lives at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The explosion inside a house in Dhalkanagar area left seven members of the family injured. Meanwhile, one of them -- Shariful Islam, 42, the breadwinner of the family -- succumbed to his injury on Sunday, dealing another blow to the family that has already been suffering from the shock.  

Shariful from Hatiya moved to the capital seven years back to try his luck. Somehow he made a life for himself as a day labourer. He had been living at the rented house for the last seven years with his wife and four children. The families of two of his sisters-in-law also used to live in the three-room tin-roofed house.

In the explosion, Shariful's garment worker wife, Shahida, 35, sustained critical injuries, while his 13-year-old daughter Sharifa, and eight-year-old son Shuvo also got injured.

Shariful's mother-in-law Aleya Begum, 60, his sister-in-law Shahnaz, 28, and her husband Ali Akbar, 38, were also injured in the accident.

Luckily, Shariful's younger daughter Khadiza, 9, was out of the house while his elder son Rakib, 15, was at the toilet during the explosion. Therefore, they could escape the accident.

Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon of DMCH burn unit, said among the injured, Shahida, Aleya and Ali Akbar are in a critical condition with  serious burn injuries.

The injured family members are yet to know the fate of Shariful. “It would be a big blow for them. So we did not let them know yet,” said Masud Rana, a nephew of the deceased, who along with his other family members buried Sharif at his village on Monday.

“My uncle could not go home for long due to a financial crisis. He was saving money to go to Hatiya after the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. Finally, he is home and would never come back,” Masud lamented.

The breadwinner of the family died, while his wife, Shahida, does not know when she would go back to work.

“We are worried what will happen to this family,” Masud added.

The family members alleged that they complained to the house owner before the last Eid-ul-Fitr about a leakage in the gas line, which was running through one of the rooms.

“As the smell was growing acute, a plumber came on the day before Eid, but he could not fix it. The next day, another plumber managed to fix it partially, but the gas was still leaking,” said burn victim Shahnaz -- Shariful's sister-in-law.

The family members had stopped staying in that room since then, but could not escape the incident.

Although the house owner Hira Begum is paying the medical bills of the victims, the family members are worried thinking about their bleak future.