Play store
Firefighters have resumed searches at a burned-down resort in Cox’s Bazar after recovering 10 bodies from a fire, while one person remains missing.
The fire broke out at the wooden Tup Tup Resort on Patuartek beach along the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive on Saturday morning.
As of Monday afternoon, the identities of all 10 victims remained unconfirmed. Their bodies are being kept in the refrigerated morgue at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, and DNA samples have been collected for identification.
Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Abul Mannan said the samples were being sent to Dhaka because the district has no laboratory capable of conducting the tests. The bodies will be handed over to relatives once their identities are confirmed, he added.
Many relatives have travelled to Cox’s Bazar from Dhaka and other parts of the country in search of missing family members. However, the bodies were so badly burned that they could not be identified by facial features. Some relatives have tried to recognise their loved ones through jewellery worn on their hands, necks or feet.
Lt Col Azad Anwar, director of training and development at Fire Service and Civil Defence, said 11 people had initially been listed as missing, but 10 bodies had been recovered. High temperatures had prevented rescuers from searching every part of the debris, he said.
Further searches were conducted after the resort’s upper wooden floors collapsed, raising concerns that someone might be trapped underneath. No additional body was found.
Additional District Magistrate Tasnim Jahan said police and investigators were working to establish whether the remaining missing person had been inside or outside the resort when the fire broke out. Investigators are also analysing mobile phone network locations and other information.
According to information from police, the hospital, fire service, district administration and relatives, six of the deceased have been identified by name in preliminary accounts: Israt Jahan, 30; Milita Mehezabin, 23; Laila Jahan, 27; Nafista Mim, 27; Fariha Kabir, 33; and five-year-old Faizan Ahmed. However, officials said the identities of all 10 victims had yet to be formally confirmed through DNA testing.
Six people who suffered burns were initially admitted to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital. Four were later flown to Dhaka on Saturday afternoon after their conditions deteriorated. No fire victims remained admitted to the hospital by Monday, Resident Medical Officer Subaktagin Mahmud Sohel said.
Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police Sajedur Rahman said six of the 10 victims were believed to belong to the same family. Given the severe condition of the bodies, DNA testing would be crucial to confirming their identities, he added.