DHAKA/PRETORIA — Six Bangladeshi migrant workers were killed and another was critically injured when a fire swept through a shop where they were sleeping in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province early Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
The fire was reported at about 3 a.m. local time in the Somo area near Komani, the city formerly known as Queenstown. Seven Bangladeshis were sleeping in a residential room connected to the shop when the blaze broke out. Six died at the scene, while emergency responders rescued the seventh man and took him to a local hospital with serious injuries.
The precise cause of the fire had not been established by Tuesday evening. South African police and other local authorities opened an investigation, while Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission sought information about the victims, the survivor and the circumstances surrounding the blaze.
Five of the victims were from Narayanganj district, while the sixth was from neighboring Munshiganj. The deceased were identified as Md. Fahim, 29, son of Monir Hossain; Apon Ahmed, 23, son of Ali Mia; Nur Mohammad, 55, son of the late Sharab Ali, from Kroker Char village in Alirtek Union; Md. Faisal, 26, son of Faruk Hossain, from Tailkhirar Char in Alirtek Union; and Md. Shahin, 30, son of the late Akter Hossain, from Kanainagar village in Baktabali Union, all in Narayanganj district. The sixth victim, Md. Razik, 55, son of the late Salam Bepari, was from Kalindipara in Mirkadim municipality of Munshiganj Sadar.
The injured man’s identity had not been officially disclosed as of publication.
Local representatives said the victims were related to one another, reflecting a familiar migration pattern in which relatives and neighbors help newly arrived Bangladeshis find employment in expatriate-owned shops and small businesses.
Rowshan Ali, a member of the Alirtek Union Council, confirmed the local connections while speaking to The Voice in Narayanganj on Tuesday after news of the deaths reached the families.
“The news is deeply painful for us. The victims were all related to one another,” he said.
Ali said four of those killed were from Alirtek, another was from Baktabali and the sixth was from Munshiganj. The deaths cast a pall over several villages, where relatives and neighbors gathered at the victims’ homes.
A Father’s Anguish Over Sending His Son Abroad
Among the most heartbreaking scenes unfolded at the home of Apon Ahmed, whose father, grocery shopkeeper Ali Hossain, struggled to come to terms with the death of the son he had sent abroad four years earlier.
Apon had traveled to South Africa to work at a shop associated with Rowshan Ali, a locally known union representative. His family believed he had been doing well and was gradually building a more secure future.
After learning of the fire, his father broke down in tears before local reporters.
“Why did I send my son to South Africa? Why did poverty force me to send him abroad? God should have taken me, not my son,” he said.
Nur Mohammad’s family was also mourning a final conversation that, in retrospect, sounded like a warning.
His son, Md. Siyam Hossain, said he had spoken with his father the night before the fire. Nur Mohammad reportedly told him that he had obtained permission to remain in South Africa for another month and a half and wanted to earn more money before returning home.
Siyam urged him not to wait.
“You don’t need to stay another month and a half. Come home,” he recalled telling his father.
For Faisal’s family, uncertainty initially offered a fragile source of hope. After hearing that he might have died, his mother reportedly made a video call to a relative living in South Africa, pleading with him to find her son and return with better news.
High Commissioner Travels to Eastern Cape
Bangladesh High Commissioner Shah Ahmed Shafi confirmed the deaths on Tuesday after communicating with members of the Bangladeshi community in Queenstown.
“Seven people had been asleep inside the shop when the fire began. Six were killed, and the seventh was hospitalized with serious injuries,” he told The Voice by phone.
The high commissioner said investigators had not yet determined the cause of the blaze.
“It is still not clear whether it was an accident or an act of sabotage,” he said.
Shafi added that the Bangladesh High Commission had contacted South African law enforcement authorities. The affected area is roughly 1,000 kilometers from Pretoria, and he traveled to the Eastern Cape to assess the situation firsthand and coordinate with local authorities and members of the Bangladeshi community.
Previous Fires Claimed Bangladeshi Lives
Tuesday’s tragedy was not the first fatal shop fire involving Bangladeshi migrants in South Africa.
On October 20, 2018, four Bangladeshis, including three members of one family, died when a fire broke out at a shop in Brits, North West province. Reports at the time said the victims were trapped inside the building and could not escape.
On October 31, 2024, two people died in another early-morning fire involving shops near the Retief Street taxi rank in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Bangladeshi media later identified both victims as Bangladeshi nationals. South African emergency officials said firefighters remained at the scene to prevent the blaze from reigniting.
The recurring deaths have renewed concerns over fire safety standards, electrical wiring, emergency exits, smoke detection systems and the practice of using commercial premises as living quarters for migrant workers. The investigation into the Queenstown fire is expected to determine whether any of those factors, or other circumstances, contributed to the latest tragedy.
