The smell of burnt corpses is now in the air of Bailey Road, once famous for Natakpara. On Thursday night before the weekend, the restaurants of Greenkoji Cottage Bhavan were crowded with people from different parts of the city. In a sudden fire, that crowded building turned into Bishadpuri. In the terrible fire, many talents were killed instantly, many dreams and pursuits of many were broken. At least 46 people, including mothers and children, teachers and students, died tragically in the fire.

Residents around Bailey Road were shocked by the smell of the fire and the news of death. Seeing such death in front of their eyes, they had nothing to do.

On the night of leap year, many people gathered to spend time with their loved ones and family at Greenkoji Cottage building full of restaurants and various product showrooms. Most of its floors had food stalls. There were other restaurants in this building including Kacchi Bhai, Pizza Inn, Streetoven, Khanas. There was also marketing of popular products including Alien, Closest Cloud. On the second floor of the building was Katchi Bhai restaurant. Apart from a clothing shop on the third floor, there were food shops on other floors.

Eyewitnesses say that the building was still lit up on Thursday. Within a day, the building now stands as a blackened structure. Broken glass is lying around, burnt chairs and tables of different shops and restaurants are scattered around. Pedestrians are stopping to see the appearance of the building that used to shine a day ago. A crowd of eager people was seen in front of the burnt building on Friday morning. Members of PBI, CID, DMP have been investigating the building since morning. Officials of Rajuk, Disaster Management, City Corporation were also present there. The law and order forces have surrounded the entire building with tape written ‘Crime Scene’.

Many local residents told Jugantar about the horror of the fire on Thursday night. Maksudur Rahman, official of the sweet shop Ross, told Jugantar, “I brought a ladder from the side as soon as the fire broke out.” I brought down 10-12 people with that ladder. But because the ladder was broken, I could not get anyone down from the second floor. Many people died in the fire before their eyes. Then we had nothing else to do.

Kamal Uddin, a resident of Bailey Road, said that he would not have believed what happened here if he had not seen it at night. Seeing the loud noise and the burning flames, it seemed like the fire of ‘hell’.

Tahmina Khanam, another resident of Bailey Road, said that she could not sleep for even 1 minute at night after seeing the fire and hearing the screams of people. I heard that many people trapped in that building died of suffocation. Azizur Rahman, a regular customer of Kachchi Bhai, said that there was a 50 percent discount on all food in the restaurant on Thursday. That’s why there was a long line of foodies.

Many talented people died in the fire of this building. Along with that, the dreams of many have been burnt. Additional Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Nasirul Islam’s daughter Lamisha Islam was studying in the chemical engineering department at BUET. After her mother’s death in 2018, Lamisha lived with her father and a sister in Shimul Bhawan in Ramna Complex. Lamisha went to eat at a restaurant in that building on Bailey Road on Thursday night with Nahian Amin, a friend of the 22 batch of BUET. They both died in the fire. The police officer father is speechless after losing his beloved daughter.

Tushar Howladar graduated from Daffodil University’s Department of Journalism. A few weeks later, she was due to wear a gown and attend convocation. He also bought new shoes. But in an instant all dreams were shattered. Tushar used to live with his family in Dhaka. Father Dinesh Howladar works in Bardem Hospital. Tushar started working as a video editor at TheReport.Live. In January, he quit his job and joined another multimedia portal. Father spoke to Tushar for the last time at 8 pm. Woke up till 11pm and called several times. But did not get Tushar on the phone. After 7 am, the police phoned and told them to come to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as soon as possible. He went there and saw the frozen body of Tushar lying there.

Tushar’s colleagues from The Report Live rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Sheikh Hasina National Burn Institute after hearing the news. At the Burn Institute, they identified the body of Abhishruti Shastri, another colleague of Tushar’s. Gholam Rabbani of The Report Live told Yugantar that Abhishruti Shastri was their colleague. He left the job in January and was trying to join elsewhere. He said that Tushar and Abhishruti Shastri were together in Kacchi Bhai restaurant.

Software engineer Minhaj Uddin. Worked in a private company in Kauranbazar. He also died in the fire while eating at Kacchi Bhai restaurant. Minhaj lived with his elder brother in Basabo in the capital. Bank officer Aminul Islam, brother of Minhaj, said, We got worried when Minhaj did not return home at 12:30 am. At 12 o’clock in the night, his friend who had gone to eat with Minhaj called and said that he had gone to eat biryani with Minhaj. But that restaurant on Bailey Road caught fire. He jumped from the second floor and came out injured but Minhaj was trapped inside. He said, we came to Dhaka Medical College Mortuary on Friday morning and identified the body after seeing Minhaj’s watch.

Three cousins of students Nusrat Jahan Nimu, Alisha and Riya died while eating at Kacchi Bhai restaurant. Nushrat is a higher secondary student of City College. Alisha Vikarunnisa studied in Class VIII at Noon School and College. And Riya was studying in a university in Malaysia. He recently came to the country. He was supposed to leave for Malaysia on Friday.

Nusrat’s father Abdul Quddus said it was 10 o’clock at night. The only daughter Nusrat calls and says – ‘Dad, fire! Save us.’ After trying many times on the phone, I could not contact Nusrat.

Ma Lutfun Nahar Karim Lucky, a senior teacher of the main Prabhati wing of Vikarunnisa Noon School and College, went out with her son and daughter on Thursday. As his son had university entrance exam, he sent him home and took his daughter Jannatin Tajri Nikita to Kacchi Bhai restaurant in that building on Bailey Road. Nikita studied at the private BRAC University. If there is a fire in the building, the mother and daughter send an urgent message to the family. They said they were suffocating and begged to be saved. Both mother and daughter died in this fire. Nazia Ahmed (32), a resident of Bailey Road, took her two children Arahan Ahmed (8) and Adian Ahmed (6) to eat at Kacchi Bhai restaurant. Three other acquaintances were with them. When the building caught fire, a boy was lost in a hurry. Nazia could not go out while looking for her son. His body along with two children were recovered from that building. On the other hand, Swapna Akhter’s husband Syed Mubarak Hossain returned home with an Italian green card. He was supposed to cross Italy with wife Swapna and three children on March 23. The Bailey Road fire destroyed that dream of a family trip to Italy. In this accident, the whole family including husband, wife and three children left the world.