“Pray for me,” were the final words fireman Shakil Tarafdar uttered to his mother over phone before joining the operation to douse the deadly fire at the BM container depot in Sitakunda of Chattogram Saturday night.
Shakil, son of Sattar Tarafdar and Jasmine Begum of Sukhdara village in Batiaghata upazila of Khulna district, is one of nine ill-fated fire fighters who were killed in the devastating blaze.
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Shakil Tarafdar joined Kumira Fire Service in Sitakunda three years ago. He was the youngest of three brothers.
He told his mother in his last call that he would come home during Eid-ul-Azha and join the Monirampur Fire Service office in Khulna zone. But the family’s dream was shattered at Shakil’s tragic death..
Shakil’s mother has been falling unconscious repeatedly after hearing the news of her son’s death.
His elder brother Moni Tarafdar went to Chattogram for bringing the body but yet to get his brother's body.
Sukhdara Union Parishad Chairman Zakir Hossain said that Shakil joined the fire service on January 20, in 2019 and had been working in Kumira office in Sitakunda since then.
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"The death toll from the fire climbed to 49 and there were nine fire service members among the deceased,” said Anisur Rahman, deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defense, while briefing reporters at Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) over the brutal blaze.
Besides, twelve firemen still remained missing, Shahjahan Shikdar, deputy assistant director of Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters (media) on Sunday.