Md Imtiaz’s phone was plugged into a charger on a wall plug point near Ward No. 520 at the burn institute in Dhaka and it rang constantly. Call after call came in. Imtiaz was calling others too. And he repeated the same few lines every time.

“We haven’t found them. We’ve sent people to all the hospitals. The bodies can’t be identified.”

Imtiaz says he has been to every hospital in Dhaka, but there is no word about his sister Elina Yasmin. Elina boarded the Benapole Express train with five other members of their family. The others are currently undergoing treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, but she is nowhere to be found.

Imtiaz’s two sisters, a brother-in-law and three nephews boarded the Benapole Express on Friday night. All six were on the ‘Cha’ carriage. Five of them managed to escape when the fire started, but his sister Elina went missing.

“Arfan, Elina’s six-month-old son, was on my other sister Ratna’s lap,” Imtiaz said. “Ratna managed to carry Arfan out somehow after the fire started on the train. Ratna’s husband Iqbal and their two sons Dihan and Rohan got off the train too. Only Elina is missing.”

The five who escaped all received injuries.

Iqbal, Ratna, and their two children are admitted to Ward No. 502. Six-month-old Arfan is at the hospital’s emergency department.

The Benapole Express train stopped in the Gopibagh area around 9pm on Friday when the fire was noticed.

That night the frantic Imtiaz had even managed to get the local mosque to make an announcement asking for Elina’s whereabouts.

“I’ve exhausted every hospital in Dhaka to find my sister, but there’s no sign of her anywhere,” said a dejected Imtiaz.

Over 150 passengers fled the blaze. Four people have been killed and eight others are hospitalised with critical injuries.

The burnt bodies are at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Aparna Biswas was wiping her eyes as she stood in front of Ward No. 520 of the burn institute. Her son, doctor Kaushik Biswas, was a passenger on the train.

Kaushik passed the 39th BCS cadre and was assigned to Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. He was a former student at Faridpur Medical College and had gone to Faridpur on Friday to see patients in his chamber. He was returning to Dhaka afterwards when he was caught in the fire. He is currently receiving treatment at the burn institute.

Abu Siddique Khan, a former official at Agrani Bank, was standing in front of the ward, speaking to family and friends. His son, Asif Mohammad Khan, and daughter-in-law Natasha, were on the train.

Asif had managed to get his head out the window and was dragged out by the crowd. Natasha, however, was left behind. There has been no word from her since.

Abu Siddique, a Narinda resident, said the couple had gone to Faridpur’s Bhanga to visit relatives and were on their way back.

“I don’t want to talk to anyone else,” he said. “At one point the DMP came and asked if my son was a member of the BNP, and then railway police came and asked whether he was a member of any party. I’ll tell you something and it will end up meaning something else.”