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Their sense of duty prevailed
FROM PAGE 1
For this sum of money, and from an unwavering sense of duty, this young man faced the roaring inferno at the BM container depot on Saturday night, without even knowing what lay inside the containers.
A viral live video of what was possibly Rana’s last moments showed a team of firefighters tackling a towering inferno with hose pipes. Just then, a container exploded with a shattering noise. And the screen went black.
One of Rana’s legs was blown off.
“We heard about the fire in the morning and learnt that some firefighters were missing. We contacted the fire station, who told us that Rana could not be traced … The owners [of the depot] will get away with their crimes, but we will be the ones left suffering,” Yusuf said.
Meanwhile, every word spoken by Alauddin’s wife Taslima Sultana was riddled with despair.
“His beautiful face has disappeared completely… [He is] unrecognisable. I fell in love with that face in 2011.”
The couple had married seven years ago and have a five-year-old son.
“I don’t know where I will live now -- with my in-laws in Noakhali? My parents’ house? I want to live with my husband, wherever he is,” she wailed.
She first heard Alauddin might be missing when she got a call from her cousin around 2:00am after he saw the news of the fire.
“Kumira fire station, where he was stationed, told us he was missing. We searched Chattagram Medical College Hospital, the general hospital, went to the spot, and then back to CMCH. We finally found him there when the bodies arrived.”
Nipon Chakma, a firefighter transferred to Sitakunda from Rangamati Fire Station, was burnt beyond recognition. His body could not even be identified initially without DNA matching.
His wife Shumona said, “My father-in-law told me in the morning that there was a fire in Sitakunda and asked me to call him [Nipon]. I kept trying but the call would not go through.” Nipon had died hours earlier in an explosion alongside his brothers in arms.
Mithu Dewan, also from Rangamati, was stationed in Kumira and had rejoined work after a leave the very day the explosion took place. He too lost his life in the devastating fire.
Mithu and Nipon both were given guards of honour by their comrades yesterday.
The parents of Md Fariduzzaman are currently experiencing the most agonising wait of their lives as their son remains traceless even two days after he went to fight the blaze.
Farid was the elder son of van-puller Saiful Islam and Fulmati Begum, of Rangpur’s Mithapukur Upazila.
He joined the force in Sitakunda station two years ago.
His uncle Tota Mia said the family was still depending on the meagre income of Farid’s father.
Farid’s father, Saiful Islam, said, “I was preparing to quit my job [van pulling] because my son kept saying he is now working and can support us. Oh God, please return him to us!”
As soon as Saiful said this, his agony made him lose consciousness.
Farid had dreams of spending Eid-ul-Azha with his family and sacrificing their own animal -- an economic luxury for many.
The other deceased firefighters whose bodies were found are Shakil Tarafdar, Amran Hossain Majumder, and Moniruzzaman of Kumira fire station, and Ramjanul Islam and Salauddin Kader Chowdhury of Sitakunda fire station.
Amran Hossain, Mithu Dewan and Nipon Chakma were team leaders.
Along with Fariduzzaman, Shafiul Islam of Kumira and Robiul Islam of Sitakunda remain missing.

Global tourist arrivals tripled in first quarter: UN
AFP, Madrid
International tourist arrivals tripled in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2021, with Europe leading the rebound as Covid restrictions were eased, the UN’s tourism agency said yesterday.
In the first three months of 2022, there were 117 million global tourist arrivals, up from 41 million in the same period a year earlier, with the figures showing an increase of 182 percent, the Madrid-based UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said.
Although the figure remained 61 percent lower than the first quarter of 2019, a year before the pandemic, it showed tourism was continuing to recover “at a strong pace” as “restrictions ease and confidence returns”, it said.
“Of the extra 76 million international arrivals for the first three months, about 47 million were recorded in March, showing that the recovery is gathering pace.”
The increase was particularly notable in Europe, which welcomed almost four times as many arrivals as in 2021, an increase of 280 percent.
Strong growth was also seen in the Americas, where arrivals more than doubled (up 117 percent) and in the Middle East, up 132 percent.
“The gradual recovery is expected to continue throughout 2022, as more destinations ease or lift travel restrictions and pent-up demand is unleashed,” the agency said, pointing to “a significant increase in flight reservations”.
By June 2, 45 destinations (two thirds of which were in Europe) no longer had Covid-related restrictions in place, while in Asia, an increasing number of destinations had begun easing restrictions.
However, the UNWTO retained a prudent outlook for the coming months, given the risks linked to the “challenging economic environment” and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The Russian offensive on Ukraine seems to have had a limited direct impact on overall results so far,” it said.
But it was having “major economic repercussions globally” by exacerbating fuel and energy costs “which results in higher transport and accommodation costs for the tourism sector” that could weigh on the sector’s recovery, it warned.