The death toll in yesterday’s fire that broke out in the engine room of a launch on the Sugandha river near Jhalakathi Sadar upazila rose to 40 as another injured died last night in a Dhaka hospital.
The victim, Habib Khan (45), died at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Dr SM Aiyub Hossain, residential surgeon of the institute told The Daily Star.
“We have talked with the relatives of the victim. When the fire broke out, he jumped from the launch and got hurt in his chest,” the doctor said.
Habib, a shopkeeper by profession, hailed from Tetulbaria village of Barguna Sadar upazila. The victim and his wife Sayera Begum had been to Dhaka to visit their son in Tongi one week ago, and were on their way back on the ill-fated launch.
Sayera Begum said they boarded the launch on Thursday evening to return to their village.
“We jumped from the launch when the fire broke out but my husband got injured,” she said.
He was later taken to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital from where he was shifted to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery for better treatment.
