Fire at Fatullah madrasa: 79 students fall ill from smoke, four in ICU

Seventy-nine students have been admitted to hospital after falling ill from smoke following a fire at Jamia Ashrafia Qawmia Madrasa in the Signboard area of Fatullah, Narayanganj. Four of them are in critical condition and receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The fire broke out at the madrasa on Monday night. As smoke spread through the whole madrasa, students fell ill.

Fourteen-year-old Azizul Islam Siam, who is seriously ill in the ICU, is being kept breathing with the help of a machine. His lungs have been severely damaged by the smoke from the fire.

Speaking on Tuesday, Siam's mother Sonia Akter repeatedly broke down in tears. She said she had fed her son his favourite food with her own hands at around 9pm last night. After that, she has not spoken to him.

Sonia Akter said, "My fourteen-year-old only son is lying on a hospital bed, breathing with the help of a machine. ... My only prayer to Allah is to make my jewel well again and return him to my arms."

Siam's mother is sitting outside the ICU, waiting in hope of her son's recovery. Every moment passes as she waits to hear news of her son's condition from the doctors. The doctors have consoled her, saying her son is on life support and she should pray.

Three other students seriously ill in the same incident — Khairul (22), Yusuf (17) and Jobayer Pathan (17) — are also receiving treatment in the ICU.

Around noon on Tuesday, Professor Dr Mohammad Rabiul Karim Khan Papon, acting director of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said 79 patients had been admitted to the hospital in phases since the incident. Fourteen of them have already been discharged.

Dr Papon said seriously ill patients are having trouble keeping the oxygen level in their blood normal. Some are coughing up blood. Symptoms such as breathing difficulty, stomach pain, burning eyes and severe headaches have also appeared.

He added that smoke entering the body with breath can damage the airways, disrupting the normal functioning of oxygen in the body.

Four patients are in critical care. One of them is on ventilator support. A pulmonologist and respiratory specialists are treating him. The eyes of several patients have also been affected by the burn; eye specialists have been brought in for their treatment.

Mufti Azizur Rahman, education secretary of the madrasa, said there were no students at the spot where the fire started. But after the fire broke out, smoke spread across the whole madrasa. As the madrasa has several staircases, everyone could get out quickly.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmed has expressed deep concern over the incident. In a statement on Tuesday, he wished the injured students a speedy recovery.

Jalaluddin Ahmed said the government must take effective steps immediately to ensure the best possible treatment to save the lives of students in critical condition. If needed, arrangements for advanced treatment abroad should be made, and the government should bear all treatment costs.

He also said proper compensation should be given after assessing the infrastructural damage to the madrasa, and necessary support should be ensured to keep the institution's educational activities running normally.

A delegation of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis visited Jamia Ashrafia Qawmia Madrasa on Tuesday to see the scene of the fire. The delegation included the party's central organising secretary Maulana Enamul Haque Musa, Dhaka Metropolitan South president Maulana Sanaullah Amini and Narayanganj Metropolitan president Maulana Mamunur Rashid.