The collapsed ceiling of the building at Patuatuli in Old Dhaka on Wednesday — Focus Bangla A portion of the ceiling of a two-storey abandoned building in Patuatuli in Old Dhaka collapsed early Wednesday that killed one person while another was suspected trapped under the debris.
The deceased was identified as Zahed Ali Bepari, 50 while his son Rafiqul Ali, 18, was missing until filing this report at around 8:40pm.
They hailed from Sutarkandi village of Bajitpur Upazila in Madaripur district.
The Fire Service was continuing the rescue mission.
A distant village relative of them, Nazrul Islam told the FE the son and his father used to sell fruits on the street-side adjacent to the building located at the Lane No. 6 of Patuatuli beside the Sumona Hospital near Sadarghat.
"Their family members had been calling them but neither father nor son responded," he added.
An elderly neighbour, Md Abdullah, 68, said, "The building, aged over 100 years, had been abandoned for long, and we didn't know that anyone was living there."
The portion of the roof may might have collapsed around 2:00am last night, he said, adding: "Some relatives came at around 12:30 pm on Wednesday in search of the fruit sellers, and then we called fire department for help."
Md Nuruzzaman, a Fire Service and Civil Defence official, said they started rescue effort at around 1:15pm but it had been tough to bring rescue equipment to the place as passageway to the building is very narrow and zigzag shaped.
However, the rescuers recovered body of Zahed Ali at around 8:30pm while they were digging the debris to find the missing son.
Shahidur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotwali Police Station, informed the Fire Service was continuing the rescue mission to recover the missing youth.
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