3 children burned dead in a locked house

Both Sumon Mia and his wife Modina Begum were at work when a fire ravaged their home in Seedstore area of Mymensingh's Bhaluka upazila on Sunday night, killing all their three children on the spot.

The fire originated from a gas cylinder explosion in the kitchen of one of their neighbours around 9:15pm. It spread to five adjacent tin-roofed houses, including that of Sumon, said Al Mamun, senior station officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence in Bhaluka.

On information, firefighters rushed to the spot and brought the flames under control after around two hours. Later, they recovered the charred bodies of Radia, 2, Raihan, 3, and Khadeja, 5, he said.

Mamun said both parents were at work, and the house was locked from outside.

Sumon is a day labourer while Modina works at a garment factory. They are from Netrokona's Kalmakanda area. They moved into the house only a month ago. They had locked it from outside for the children's safety, he also said, quoting locals.

The children were buried in Netrokona's Dhitpur Sunoi village yesterday, Mamun added.

Kalmakanda UNO Mohammad Sohel Rana handed Tk 30,000 to the family as financial support on behalf of the Netrokona district administration.

In another incident, two men, who sustained critical burns after the gas cylinder of a truck exploded in Narayanganj Sadar's Aliganj area around noon on Sunday, died at a hospital in Dhaka yesterday.

Alam, 45, passed away around 12:30am and Joj Mia, 45, around 8:00am at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said Partha Sanker Paul, a resident surgeon at the institute.

At least 10 people sustained burns in the incident. Six were admitted to the institute in a critical state.

[Our correspondents in Mymensingh and Narayanganj contributed to the report]

Credit: The Daily Star