3 brothers die for a mobile

A mobile phone turned out to be the reason of three brothers' tragic deaths in Khagrachhari.

Deceased Pradip Shashi Chakma, 42; Hebentu Chakma, 30, and Ubentu Chakma, 26, were residents of Monartek village under Mohalchhari upazila in the district.

The incident took place around 11:20pm on Sunday when Ubentu went to the tiny toilet built on a ring well surrounded by corrugated iron sheets. But suddenly he dropped his mobile phone into the cesspit, said Ujjala Chakma, wife of Pradip Shashi.

Ubentu tried to retrieve the phone but to no avail.

He then opened up the slab of the cesspit. Overcome by the overpowering fumes, he passed out before falling into the tank, neighbours said.

As there was no response from him for quite some time, Arpita, Ubentu's wife, informed her brothers-in-law. On hearing this, Hebentu rushed there and entered the toilet. But he too became unconscious and fell into the tank.

Finally, Pradip entered and he too fell into it.

Hearing screams of family members, neighbours rushed to the spot and rescued the victims. While rescuing them, two neighbours -- Ripon Chakma, 22, and Bablu Chakma, 20, -- fell sick.

The three brothers were whisked off to Mahalchhari Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared them dead. Ripon and Bablu were undergoing treatment at the upazila health complex.

Dr Tanzil Farhad of Mahalchhari Upazila Health Complex said the victims were brought dead. He said they might have died because of the toxic gas inside the tank.

The death of the brothers created a heart-rending scene at the house with family members and neighbours mourning their abrupt loss.

Their aged mother Sadhana Chakma was howling and fainting frequently.

"They left me alone, how would we survive?" she cried.

Semaiun Kabir, officer-in-charge of Mahalchhari police station, said after completing all formalities, the three brothers were cremated around 4:00pm yesterday. Several hundreds of people attended the funeral.

Pradip was a local correspondent of the Bangla daily Bhorer Kagoj while Hebentu and Ubentu were farmers.