Highlights
- Banani FR Tower “tiny hero” Naeem loses his home in the Korail slum fire
- Mother and son spend the night under open sky after failing to save belongings
- Now a tenth-grader and part-time worker Naeem appeals for government and public support
On 28 March 2019, the country met a little boy with a heart far bigger than his fifth-grade frame. In the dense smoke and chaos of Banani’s FR Tower fire, young Anwarul Islam Naeem stepped forward without hesitation. His courage stunned the nation. His bravery won admiration. He became known as the “tiny hero,” a symbol of hope amid tragedy.
Yesterday, that same hero stood powerless as flames devoured everything he and his mother owned. A devastating fire ripped through the Korail slum late yesterday afternoon, reducing hundreds of homes to ashes. Among those affected was Naeem, who watched helplessly as the only shelter he had disappeared in a cloud of thick black smoke.
By the time 11 units of the fire service reached the area nearly half an hour after the fire broke out, the destruction was already overwhelming. Naeem’s home, like countless others, had been swallowed by the flames.
His mother, Nazma Begum, made desperate attempts to salvage their belongings but nothing could be saved. As night descended, mother and son found themselves under the open sky, surrounded by ruins and heartbreak.
Read more: 2019’s Little Firefighting Hero Naeem Now Homeless After Korail Blaze
Speaking to Stream last night, Naeem’s voice trembled as he recalled the memories of his past heroism and the pain of his present loss.
“I ran to help people during the FR Tower fire because it felt right. Helping people soothes me,” he said softly. “But today I couldn’t save my own home. By the time I got back from work, everything was gone.”
Now a tenth-grade commerce student at Pathshala, a school in Korail, Naeem works as a personal assistant to an official to support his mother. His life is a delicate balance between adolescence, education, and responsibilities far bigger than his age. But last night, that balance crumbled. What remained was sorrow, memories, and uncertainty about the days ahead.
He urged the government to extend support in rebuilding the lives shattered by the fire. He also appealed to the wealthy and the kind-hearted to help the hundreds of families who lost everything in minutes.
As the smoke slowly faded from Korail, the scene that lingered was heartbreaking the image of a once-celebrated child hero, now a young man fighting his own battle against loss and devastation.
Source: Dhaka Stream
