Play store
The bodies of 10 tourists killed in a fire at TupTup Resort in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, have been kept in the morgue of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, while relatives have rushed to the hospital to claim them.
However, the bodies will not be handed over until their identities are confirmed through DNA tests, as the victims’ faces and bodies were severely burned.
Subuktogin Mahmud Sohel, resident medical officer (RMO) at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, said the identities of six of the 10 victims had been provisionally established, but it was not yet possible to determine which body belonged to whom.
The identified victims are Ishrat Jahan, 30, and Milita Mehezabin, 23, from Banasree in Dhaka; Laila Jahan, 27, and Nafista Mim, 27, from Khilgaon in Dhaka; Fariha Kabir, 33, from Chuadanga; and five-year-old Faizan Ahmed.
The identities of the remaining four victims—two women, one child and one man—have yet to be established.
The fire broke out at the resort, a three-storey wooden structure, on Saturday morning. Ten tourists were killed and six others suffered burns.
They were taken to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital. Four of the injured were flown to Dhaka in the afternoon for advanced treatment, while the other two received treatment at the hospital.
Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Abul Mannan told that DNA tests would be conducted to establish the identities of the victims before their bodies could be handed over to their families.
Families search for missing relatives
Nasrin Akter, a resident of Dhaka, remains missing following the fire. She checked into the resort on Thursday with two friends, Irene Jahan and Ishrat Jahan.
Irene said she and Ishrat had gone to the beach early Saturday to watch the sunrise and had invited Nasrin to join them. Nasrin chose to stay behind to sleep. When they returned a short time later, they found the resort engulfed in flames. They could do little except shout from Marine Drive.
Nasrin’s husband, Dewan Faisal, travelled from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar on Saturday afternoon after receiving the news. He later searched the resort and visited the hospital but could not find her.
Speaking outside the hospital, Faisal said the condition of the bodies made visual identification impossible and that DNA testing would be necessary.
Relatives of the victims and families searching for missing loved ones have gathered outside the hospital. Hospital authorities said they could not provide definitive information until the identities were established through DNA tests.
