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director at Dhaka’s fire service.

Firefighter Robin Miah, the same age as Azam, was also inside the ICU with 60 percent burns. His chest, neck, and back were completely scalded in the blaze.

Robin had gotten married only a year ago. In his village home in Manikganj’s Chaturia, his wife kept fainting as she tried to come to terms with the shock of her husband’s fate.

“He could not even talk. He simply looked at me and nodded when I asked if he recognised me,” said Hossain Ali, Robin’s father.

Mohammed Amin Sheikh, 19, had gotten a job at the depot so that he could pay for his university admission fees, said his mother Parul Begum.

“He had gotten the job just last week for Tk 13,000 a month.”

His lower abdomen is completely burned.

“Amin and six others share a room inside the depot. They heard the clamour and came out to see what was happening. He was standing in front of a shop when there was a loud explosion,” said Parul.

Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of the burn institute, said, “None of them are out of danger. The patients have between 12 percent to 80 percent burns. The main concern is that the inhalation of smoke has damaged their respiratory systems.”