The bodies of Bangladeshi nationals killed in a fire at a hotel in Kolkata’s New Market area will be repatriated quickly, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaid Islam has said.
Speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, August 19, the state minister said that if families wish, the government will bear the cost of bringing the victims’ bodies home.
The state minister for foreign affairs said five Bangladeshi nationals have been identified among the dead in the Kolkata hotel fire, four of them members of a single family.
Citing local authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the fire has killed a total of nine people so far. Local police have confirmed the identities of five of them as Bangladeshi nationals. They are journalist Debashish Dutta; his wife, Afsana Shammi; their two-year-old son; and Debashish’s father-in-law, Akram Ali — all of whom were killed. A fifth Bangladeshi victim has been identified as Ahmed Babu, a resident of Begunbari in Savar’s Aminbazar.
The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission has contacted the victims’ families since the incident. Six injured Bangladeshi nationals were given initial treatment and have since been released.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report