Remains of missing teacher found 10 days after Cox’s Bazar resort fire

The death toll from the devastating fire at Tuptup Resto and Resort in Inani reached 11 on Tuesday (October 27) after local authorities recovered the skeletal remains of missing schoolteacher Nasrin Akter Mukta from the debris ten days after the blaze. 

The skeleton of Mukta, 27—a teacher at Swapnabilash Niribili School in Ashulia and wife of a Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leader—was retrieved during a joint recovery operation conducted by the Ukhiya Upazila Administration on Tuesday afternoon. 

The discovery follows confirmation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police that forensic DNA profiling had successfully identified the initial 10 victims. Police began handing over the identified remains to their respective family members on Tuesday afternoon. 

Investigation records confirm that the ten previously identified victims belonged to two Dhaka-based families.

Six members of an extended family residing in Dhaka’s Banasree and Khilgaon were identified as:

Moulita Mehjabin Alvi, 19: A student of Population and Public Health Sciences at East West University.

Laila Jahan Nabila, 25: A student of Chemistry at Jagannath University. 

Israt Jahan Maliha, 27.

Faria Kabir, 33.

Mohammad Faizan Noor, 6: Son of Faria Kabir.

Mohammad Nafis Tehami, 24: Brother of Faria Kabir, also known as Jerif, a student of Chinese Language and Culture at the Institute of Modern Languages, Dhaka University (2020-21 session).

The four members of the second family, residing in Dhaka’s Shyamoli, were identified as: 

Mohammad Nahidur Rahman, 41: Official at Grand Power Limited.

Afsana Matin, 36: Wife of Nahidur Rahman.

Rozaina Inaya, 9: Daughter of Nahidur Rahman.

Munaina Ihana, 6: Daughter of Nahidur Rahman.

With the recovery of Mukta's remains after ten days of continuous search operations, law enforcement agencies and district officials confirmed that all individuals reported missing in the resort disaster have been accounted for. Further legal proceedings and investigative reporting regarding compliance violations by the resort administration are underway.

-SA