Last embrace of a mother and son

A mother's embrace is the safest for a child. Three-year-old Yasin was in his mother's arms, till the end when the fire set by arsonists engulfed them sleeping inside the train compartment in the early morning when it came under attack.

Yasin and his 32-year-old mother Nadia Akter Popy were among the four who perished in the fire on Mohanganj Express.

Firefighters found their burnt remains still in embrace – a silent tale of the excruciating moments of a mother's futile attempts to save her child from the red flames of rage. 

Popy was coming home to her husband Mizanur Rahman in Tejkunipara, Tejgaon with their two sons. Mizanur has a hardware business in Kawran Bazar.

Nadia's brother, Habibur Rahman Habib, was in the same train with her.

He said they were travelling to Dhaka from their village in Netrokona after a fortnight of time spent with their extended family.

They expected to reach Dhaka early in the morning, but that would not happen.

"The fire started at the back of the train at Tejgaon station. It spread very fast," Habibur said.

The bodies have been kept in DMCH morgue, 19 December. Photo: TBS/Zia Chowdhury

He said he managed to get off the train with Nadia's elder son, Fahim, 8. But Yasin and Nadia were trapped inside.

"We couldn't get them out."

Later, the fire service brought out their bodies.

"Nine of my family were on that train. Four of them got off the train at the Airport Rail Station and the rest were to get off at Kamalapur," said Mizanur, Nadia's husband.

"As soon as I heard about the train on fire at around 4:30am, I rushed to Tejgaon station. The three compartments were destroyed by the time I reached there," he added.

Mizanur wondered tearfully if his wife and children would still be alive had they got off at the Airport station.

"My 3-year-old son would be home, playing. But his body is lying in the morgue in his mother's embrace," he said