Couple burnt in Jatrabari fire dies in hospital

A couple, burned in a fridge compressor blast in Dhaka's Jatrabari area on April 20, died today while undergoing treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.  

The deceased were identified as Abdul Karim (30) and Khadiza Akhter (25). Khadiza died around 5 am today while her husband died at 6:15 am, said Dr Ayub Hossain, resident surgeon of the institute said.

Abdul suffered 54 percent burns while his wife suffered 95 percent burns, he said, adding that their one-and-a-half year old daughter Fatema, who was also injured in the blast, is in ICU in critical condition.

On April 20 around 3:30am, the blast occurred on the ground floor of a four-story building in Jatrabari's Konapara area.

Mohammad Hasan, a third-floor tenant who brought the victims to the hospital, said Khadiza went to prepare food for sehri. When she lit the stove, there was a loud explosion. Three people inside the house were burned. Hearing the sound of the explosion, neighbours rushed and saw that furniture were on fire. They rushed the three injured to the hospital.

Victim's family and neighbours claim that the fire broke out due to refrigerator compressor blast.