United Hospital files unnatural death case over Wednesday’s fire

United Hospital authority has filed an unnatural death (UD) case over Wednesday’s fire incident that killed five patients.

The case was filed at the Gulshan police station around 4:30am on Thursday.

Gulshan police station Officer-In-Charge (OC) SM Kamruzzaman confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.

None of the family members of the five deceased filed any complaints. The hospital's Manager Admin and Security Maj (retd) Md Moinul Hossain filed the UD case on behalf of the hospital, the OC said.

Police are now investigating the matter, he added.

Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, DC of (Gulshan Division) of DMP, said three of the five victims were Covid-19 positive while the rest two were found to be negative.

The coronavirus positive victims will be buried with the help of DGHS maintaining WHO guidelines, he said.

The deceased were Monir Hossain, 75, Mohammad Mahbub, 50, Vernon Anthony Paul, 74, Riazul Alam, 45 and Khodeja Begum, 70.

Investigation committee formed

The fire service has formed a four-member probe body, headed by its Deputy Director (Dhaka) Debasis Bardhan, to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, issuing a statement later in the night, the hospital authorities said the fire broke out at the Coronavirus Isolation Unit, setup on the badminton court beside the main building.

Expressing grief over the incident, it stated that the hospital’s own firefighters with the help of the fire service personnel doused the flame within 15/20 minutes of the ignition. 

They also thanked the law enforcement agencies and the firefighters for their support towards the hospital authorities and efforts in handling the situation.