Young journalist Tushar Hawladar was supposed to be late, so his father Dinesh Chandra Hawladar took the keys from the landlord as the main gate closes at 11pm. Dinesh tried to reach Tushar via phone later that night and early in the morning as Tushar did not return home, but it was switched off.

Then came a call from the police.

Dinesh was told that he needed to rush to the mortuary of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Another young journalist, Avisruti Shastri, was also among the victims of a blaze at Green Cozy Cottage restaurant building on Bailey Road on Thursday night.

Aged around 24, both were working at The Report Dot Live, an online media outlet. Tushar left it and joined Star Tech Limited, an online multimedia company.

Avisruti was also supposed to leave The Report Dot Live and join another media outlet. Now both have left the world.

Several colleagues from The Report Dot Live came to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Friday upon hearing the news of their deaths.

They said Tushar and Avisruti went to Bailey Road to have dinner at Kacchi Bhai biryani restaurant.

One of them, Golam Rabbani, said Dinesh received Tushar’s body, but Avisruti’s body was still in the morgue until 1pm.

Her family live in Kushtia and the colleagues do not have their phone numbers, so they contacted Eden Mohila College, Avisruti’s alma mater.

Tushar studied journalism at Daffodil International University and lived with his family in Dhaka’s Goran. His father Dinesh, a native of Jhalakathi, was an employee of BIRDEM General Hospital in Shahbagh. They used to return home together after office daily.

But Tushar was busy because of his office’s founding anniversary on Thursday.

“I talked to Tushar for the last time at 8pm. He said he would be late, so I took the keys from the landlord and remained awake until 11pm. I called him several times, even at 6:45am,” Dinesh said.

“Later the chief of a police station called and asked if I was Tushar’s father. When I confirmed, he told me to go to Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s morgue.”

Tushar’s mother Anjana Rani Hawladar learnt about his death only after Dinesh and other members of the family took the body to their village in Jhalakathi’s Kathalia Upazila.

Anjana was losing consciousness repeatedly as speechless relatives and neighbours tried to comfort the mother in vain.