A teenage female worker who on Tuesday sustained serious burn injuries at a gas lighter factory fire at Ashulia, died on Thursday, at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.
The 18-year old victim, Rokeya Akter Rocky, died at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital’s burn section, around 10:30am, physicians said.
The victim’s brother, Zulfikar Rahman Jony, said that her sister had joined the factory over a month ago.
He said they did not receive any compensation and that a nominal sum was given for burial of the body.
The state minister for labour and employment, Mujibul Haque Chunnu, and state minister for health and family welfare, Zahid Malik, among others, visited the patients at DMCH on Thursday.
Mujibul Haque told reporters that they would investigate into the fire. He said matters– if any child workers were employed or if there was enough fire safety– would be investigated.
The state minister distributed Tk 20,000 each among the affected patients. He also declared a compensation of Tk two lakh to the family who would lost a member.
One of the co-owners of the factory, along with local lawmaker Haji Mohammad Selim, distributed Tk 10,000 each among the families of the injured and deceased ones.
With this, two workers— a 14-year-old girl, Akhi Akhter, had died on Wednesday— have so far died following the factory fire.
More than two dozen female workers were injured.
Of the wounded, the physicians said three burn victims were still at the ICU while four others at the High Dependency Unit.
Twenty-one of the injured women and girls, aged between 14 and 40, were admitted to the DMCH Burn Unit and five to a private hospital in Savar.