Bailey Road fire: Family's sole breadwinner Asif's final collection
With both parents deceased a long time ago, Asif had a DPS scheme of saving Tk3,000 monthly to accumulate enough for constructing a home in his village and aspiring to establish a local business
Mohammad Asif, a young man from Noakhali, used to work at a local gas supply shop in the capital's Shantinagar. Every morning, Asif would deliver gas cylinders to various eateries along Bailey Road and collect the money at night.
As usual, on Thursday night, Asif went to Kacchi Bhai located on Bailey Road to collect the money, a journey from which he would never return as a massive fire broke out in that building resulting in at least 46 deaths.
In his final moments, Asif called a friend to inform him that he was trapped, but no one could assist him.
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Asif lived in a matchbox-sized room with one of his acquaintances from village, Zakir Islam, who later arrived at Dhaka Medical College Hospital to receive Asif's body.
Zakir told The Business Standard, "Asif was a very good and hardworking boy. Due to extreme poverty, he couldn't pursue education. We had a very good bond."
The last time they spoke was around 3pm yesterday.
Despite being the youngest among five siblings, he was the one who had to support the family.
"He started earning from a very young age. Two of his brothers have disabilities. He took loans to send another brother abroad. Asif was paying off that debt little by little every month," Zakir shared as his voice sounded heavy with grief.
Asif's job at the gas cylinder shop in Shantinagar used to earn him a salary of Tk18,000 a month.
With both parents deceased a long time ago, Asif had a DPS scheme of saving Tk3,000 monthly to accumulate enough for constructing a home in his village and aspiring to establish a local business.
Fate, however, had other plans.
Asif only had an aunt in Dhaka who joined Zakir at the DMCH morgue.
"We had to put in quite some effort to retrieve the body. After a long night and morning of searching, we finally got hold of Asif's body. We're on our way to our village now for his funeral," said the aunt.
"Asif's body was not burned. Even his clothes were undamaged. He probably died due to suffocation from the smoke," she added.
