Abu Dhabi: The death toll in the Abu Dhabi fire incident that occurred on February 20 in Musaffah, has risen to 11.
A Bangladeshi national, who was severely injured in the deadly fire, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning.
Mohammad Esmail [in his early 40s], who received 95 per cent burns, was battling for his life in the ICU of a public hospital.
“He took his last breath at 11.20am. I was by his side all these days, expecting that he would talk to me one day. But he never opened his eyes. I never expected that they were closed forever…” Mohammad Ilyas, 35, the nephew of the deceased, told Gulf News on Sunday.
He said Esmail’s brother, who works as a painter in Abu Dhabi, will accompany the body to Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi Embassy is trying to complete the official formalities for the repatriation of the body by Monday evening, said Mohammad Arman Ullah Chowdhury, labour counsellor, Bangladeshi Embassy.
With Esmail’s death, the death toll among Bangladeshis has risen to four. Of the remaining seven deceased, three were Syrians, two Pakistanis and one Indian. One body has not been identified. Among the injured, two Bangladeshis and two Indians are recuperating in the hospital. Three men — two Bangladeshis and one Indian — have been discharged from the hospital. All six Bangladeshi victims — four dead and four injured — and four Indian victims — one dead and three injured — are from the same village in their respective countries. The Bangladeshis are from Naupara in Rawjan area in Chittagong and the Indians from Poorni in Shikhar district in Rajasthan state. The bodies of three Bangladeshis and two Pakistanis were repatriated, according to the embassies.
Esmail, who worked at a welding workshop in Musaffah, is survived by wife and five children — four daughters and a son, his nephew said. Esmail went home for his eldest daughter’s wedding recently.
In a rare coincidence, two other victims had also just come back from vacation after the wedding of their eldest daughters — the deceased Indian Om Prakash, in his 40s, and Mohammad Moinuddin Chaudhuri, 44, a Bangaldeshi automobile spare parts shop owner, who is recuperating at the hospital.
Esmail’s younger children are studying in school — in grades 9,6, 3 and 2, his nephew said. “They were shocked to hear of his death. We relatives are trying to console them.”
Ilyas is concerned about the future of his uncle’s family, especially the children’s education. “We and other family members will definitely support them. But we have our own limitations, we all depend on small jobs with limited income and struggle to meet our own responsibilities….”
As Gulf News reported, the fire broke out at the commercial building at 3.44am on February 20. The upper floor of the two-storey structure, initially designed as a warehouse, had been modified into an illegal accommodation with wooden partitions set up in 11 rooms. Witnesses said that more than 115 men lived there. Each inhabitant was reportedly paying about Dh300 for a bed space.
Civil Defence officials said the building was ill-equipped and fell short of a number of safety standards, including the lack of an emergency exit.
