Factory fire kills 24

At least 24 people were killed, dozens were injured and some others remained missing in a fire caused by a boiler explosion at a factory at BSCIC industrial area at Tongi in Gazipur on Saturday.
The fire at Tampaco Foils Limited was the largest factory fire in the country after Tazreen apparel factory fire at Savar on November 24, 2012 that killed at least 112 people.
The deceased in Saturday’s fire included two females and a 12-year-old boy.
Of the dead, 19 were brought dead at Tongi 50-bed hospital, said hospital superintendent Md Ali Haider Khan at 9:00pm.
Among the 19, identity of 11 could be established until evening. The 11 were identified as Gopal Das, 25, and Sankar Sarkar, 28, of Nababganj in Dhaka, Al-Mamun, 40, of Pirojpur, Abdul Hannan, 30, of Chandpur, Idris Ali, 40, of Kurigram, Jahangir Alam of Bhola, Subhash Chandra Basak of Tangail, Rafiqul Islam, Anisur Rahman, and Abdur Rashed, 25, of Mymensingh, and Md Wali Hossain of Sylhet.
Details of six other deceased – Md Solaiman, Enamul Huq, Mizan, Saidur Rahman, Rozina and Md Hasan Siddiqui – could be known till evening. The identity of the rest two men could not be established.
The hospital superintendent said that immediately after the incident, they received 32 severely injured patients and referred them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
He said that 10 other injured people were admitted to the hospital.
‘All the 19 bodies were sent to DMCH for post mortem examination,’ he said

Clockwise from top left, a fire fighter throws water in a bid to put out a blaze; fire fighters and volunteers jointly continue rescue drive, body of a worker is being carried to a hospital and a relative of deceased react after a fatal boiler blast and subsequent fire at a packaging factory in Tongi BSCIC industrial area that left at least 24 people dead and over 50 others injured on Saturday. — Sanaul Haque

Resident medical officer of the hospital Md Parvez said that 55 injured people were given first aid at the hospital.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital emergency department officials said that they received 24 patients injured in the factory fire.
Five of the injured died, three were released and 16 were undergoing treatment at the hospital, said the hospital’s police outpost in-charge Bachchu Mia.
He said that the deceased at the hospital were identified as BSCIC Shaheed Smrity School and College Class-V student Ashik Ahmed, 12, Pakija Group worker Tahmina Akter, 20, of Habiganj, Tampaco’s trolley driver Anwar Hossain, 40, of Badda in Dhaka, machine operator Wahiduzzaman Swapan, 40, of Uttarkhan in Dhaka and security guard Delowar Hossain, 45.
He said that a total of 24 bodies were now at the hospital morgue.
The injured admitted to the hospitals and local people said that the boiler of the factory exploded with a big bang a few minutes before the change of the shift at 6:00am while about 80 workers were working inside the factory, some entered for joining the new shift and some other workers had been waiting to enter the factory.
As the boiler exploded, the front side of the building collapsed and fire broke out, they said.
Witnesses said that the walls of at least three adjacent buildings also collapsed.
Injured Tampaco packing worker Mahabubur Rahman said at Tongi Hospital that the fire immediately engulfed three buildings of the factory immediately after he heard the bang.
‘I was at the office, ran for exit from and managed to get out jumping from the factory office,’ he said.
He said he heard screaming of workers inside the factory.
Another victim Mohammad Shahidul Islam, a worker of adjacent Javed and Jubayer Garments Accessories, said that parts of bricks of the collapsed building hit a three wheeler injuring him and other passengers.
He said that a rickshaw-puller and his two female passengers were also severely injured.
Brick bats and debris of the collapsed building was seen here and there in the surrounding areas and windowpanes of the adjacent buildings were seen broken.
Families of at least three workers were seen wailing near the spot as they could not find the workers – Rafiqul, 40, of Kishoreganj, Murad Hossain, 20, of Lakshmipur and Rajesh Babu, 26, of Faridpur.
Fire Service and Civil Defence director Lieutenant Colonel Mosharrof Hossain told reporters at about 4:00pm that fire fighters rushed the spot immediately after receiving the information at about 6:05am.
He said that 25 fire engines worked to douse the fire and they managed to keep the fire confined to the building.
He said that parts of the building collapsed due to the explosion and the fire.
Fire service control room official said that the fire fighter could not douse the fire completely till 10:45pm.
The fire service director said that they formed a five-member committee to investigate the matter.
Local people said that soon after the fire broke out, they heard sounds of blast inside the building and drums of chemicals, kept in the third floor, had been exploding and the drams could be seen in the air.
Fire service officials said that the factory had three inter-linked buildings, including two old buildings unfit for running such a factory. The front side one collapsed immediately after the explosion and the other collapsed within a couple of hours due to the fire.
Visiting the spot at about 1:30pm, state minister for labour and employment Mujibul Haque announced that the families of the deceased would get Tk 2 lakh each in compensation.
He told New Age that negligence of the owners was primarily responsible for the accident.
Gazipur deputy commissioner SM Alam said that they formed a five-member probe committee led by additional district magistrate Rahenul Islam and asked the committee to submit the report in 15 working days.
He also announced the district administration would provide Tk 20,000 to the family of each deceased and Tk 10,000 to each injured.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan visited the spot in the afternoon and told reporters that the fire spread in the factory so fast due to chemicals.
He said that legal action would be taken against the owners of the factory.
The inspector general of police visited the spot before the home minister and said that a regular case would be filed against the owners of the factory on charge of negligence.
Former Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers Syed Mokbul Hossain, also one of the owners of the factory, claimed that his factory followed all the rules.
He said that about 80 workers were at the factory when it caught fire and added that he would do ‘everything for the wellbeing’ of his workers.
President Abdul Hamid and prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in separate messages, expressed their deep shock at the deaths of the people.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net