Staff Reporter :At least 11 people were killed and about 12 others injured when a two-storied tin-shed house built over muddy ‘jheel’ area at the capital’s Rampura Boubazar caved in on Wednesday afternoon.Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defense ABM Nurul Haque said, “The so-called ground floor of the house over the muddy jheel caved in partially.” The victims were identified as Nizam Rahman, 57, his wife, Kalpana Begum, 42, their son Sabuj’s wife Roksana, 22, hailing from Barguna district, Harun-Ar-Rashid, 56, from Barisal district, Saiful Islam, son of Khalilur Rahman, inhabitant of the city, Sazeda, 24, wife of Masudur Rahman, Mizanur Rahman, 30, Farzana, 9, Jakir, 40, Jatsna Begum,40, and Runa, police said,The injured people were admitted to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and other local hospitals.Seven fire service units, including two lighting units, took part in the rescue operations, the fire service official said. The loss in the incident could not be estimated immediately, he said. Mahbubur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rampura Police Station said that the house caved in the swampy soil at the Jheelpar in the afternoon. “The lower storey has been sucked in through the mud at the bottom of the water body around 3:00pm,” the police official said. Fire service men rescued five bodies from the spot, the OC said.Of the injured men, two succumbed to their injuries at DMCH in the evening, he said. The death toll may rise in the incident, the OC said, added additional police were deployed in the area.At least 40 people stayed in the house when its ground floor suddenly caved into the land, local people claimed. The local people also feared many others trapped in the house.The bodies of the victims have been kept at DMCH morgue, said Sento Chandra Das, ASI of the DMCH police outpost.
