DHAKA, May 28, 2020 (BSS)- The authority of United Hospital has lodged an
unnatural death case with Gulshan Police Station in connection with the fire
incident that took place at the hospital in the city last night, leaving five
patients dead at its coronavirus isolation centre.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Gulshan Police Station Kamruzzaman Elias Parvez
confirmed the matter to BSS today.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence authority has formed
a four-member probe committee headed by its deputy director Devashish Bardhan
to investigate the fire incident.
The other committee members include its acting principal Babu Chakrawarty
as member secretary as well as deputy assistant director Niaz Ahmed and
Senior Station Officer of Gulshan-Baridhara Fire Station Abul Kalam Azad as
members.
The United Hospital authorities have disclosed the name of the fire
victims identifying them as Riazul Alam, 45, Khodeza Begum, 70, Berun
Anothony Paul, 74, Monir Hossain, 75, and Mohammad Mahabub, 50.
The fire broke out around 9:30pm at the corona isolation ward, which was
temporarily built at the hospital’s compound for the treatment of COVID-19
patients.
After the fire broke out at the isolation unit of the hospital, the civil
defence sources said a total of three units rushed to the spot and brought
the fire under control by 10:25pm last night.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Brigadier General M Sajjad
Hossain visited the spot last night.
The fire official confirmed that the fire originated from air cooler
explosion inside the isolation unit of the hospital and later it engulfed the
isolation centre.
“We have so far received particulars of total five deceased who were
admitted to the hospital with the symptoms of corona infection,” said Rafiqul
Islam, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police(DMP) of Gulshan
Zone.
During the fire incident, the doctors and nurses managed to escape, but the
patients could not move at that time, said the police official.