Bailey Road tragedy: 3 more bodies handed over, 2 still await identification

The families of three more victims received bodies of their loved ones' today (2 March) from those who perished during the fire at the Green Cozy Cottage building on Bailey Road.  

As of this reporting, the bodies of 43 of the 46 reported fatalities have been returned to their families.

Meanwhile, two bodies still remain unidentified at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) morgue.

"The bodies of three individuals are still at the morgue. They will be handed over to their families once identified through DNA testing," confirmed Md Bacchu Mia, the officer in charge (Inspector) of DMCH police outpost, while speaking to journalists at 11am today.

Up until Friday (1 March) evening, bodies of 40 victims had been returned to their families from DMCH morgue.

This morning, relatives of a family from Teknaf's Ukhiya received the bodies of three belonging to the same family: 35-year-old customs officer Shah Jalal Uddin, his 24-year-old wife Meherun Nesa Helali, and their 4-year-old daughter Fairuz Kashem Jamila.

Mukhtar Alam Helali, the father-in-law of Shah Jalal received the body. 

He shared that Shah Jalal, who worked at the Pangaon Container Terminal in Keraniganj as an assistant revenue officer, had planned a three-day trip to Khagrachhari with his family. 

"I had come to my daughter's house a few days ago with my younger daughter for her Dhaka University admission test. Last night they went out for dinner. At the time of the incident, my younger daughter was staying at a friend's house in Manipur," he said.

The devastating Bailey Road fire is confirmed to have claimed 46 lives so far.

The fire broke out at the "Green Cozy Cottage" building on Bailey Road in the capital around 9:50pm on 29 February, spreading to every floor of the seven-story building, which housed several popular restaurants such as Kacchi Bhai, Fuoco and others.