Rakib Hasan, a member of the Bangladesh Air Force, spoke to his father Zakir Hossain over the phone on Monday morning.

Before hanging up, Zakir, a motor mechanic from Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj, made a simple request to his son -- to bring a panjabi for him and a three-piece for Rakib’s mother.

Within 24 hours, the father found himself waiting at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital morgue to receive the body of his son.

Rakib died after inhaling toxic smoke during a fire at LA Plaza, a commercial building in Mirpur-2, on Monday afternoon.

Ayesha Siddika Ananya, 20, another BAF member, also died in the incident.

For Zakir, the news came as a bolt from the blue.

“He called in the morning and said he was going to the market for Eid shopping,” Zakir told this correspondent yesterday, holding back tears. “I told him to bring a panjabi for me and a three-piece for his mother. I was waiting for him to come home for Eid.”

Instead, a phone call came at night telling him that his son had died in a fire while shopping in Mirpur.

“At first I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “How can someone go to buy clothes for Eid and never return?”

Rakib, the elder of Zakir’s two sons, joined BAF in 2020. His income was a crucial support for the family’s modest household and his younger brother’s education.

“Our family ran on what he earned,” Zakir said. “Now I don’t know how we will move forward.”

The fire broke out around 1:52pm on the third floor of the 10-storey building. Firefighters brought the blaze under control around 4:35pm.

A total of 23 people were rescued from different floors of the building. Rakib and Ananya, who were found unconscious, later died at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital on Monday night.

For Ananya’s family, the tragedy has brought a similar wave of grief.

Ananya was born and raised in Saidpur of Nilphamari. The elder of two daughters of Abdul Hannan, an auto-rickshaw driver, she had grown up battling poverty.

After completing her secondary school education, she joined BAF in March 2023, hoping to support her family and secure a better future.

“She had taken responsibility for the family,” said her maternal uncle Matiur Rahman. “She also supported her younger sister’s education.”

On Monday, Ananya had gone to the Mirpur market for shopping when the fire broke out.

“People said she helped several people reach the rooftop when smoke spread through the building,” Matiur said.

Toward the end, she and a colleague were trapped in the thick smoke.

Sources at the morgue said neither of the victims had visible burn marks on their bodies.

However, both died from severe smoke inhalation, with their airways badly damaged due to inhalation burns.

With their untimely demise, the anticipation of Eid has turned into mourning for their families.

For Zakir Hossain, the pain remains especially difficult to grasp.

A father who had asked for a simple Eid gift must now carry home the body of the son who once held his struggling family together.