Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
At least 81 people, including 58 men, seven women and four children, reportedly died and scores injured when a devastating inferno completely gutted five multiple-storey buildings at Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar on Wednesday night.
Still confusion prevails over the number of thedeceased in the fire incident, but the death toll may rise as nine burns injured victims are not still out of danger due to injury in their respiratory tracts and other parts of the bodies, said Dr Samatalal Sen, Coordinator of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).
Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon has said, a total 70 bodies have been recovered from the site of fire.
Also Chief of DMCH Forensic Department Sohel Mahmud, claimed early Thursday that a total of 78 persons were burned to death. However, later on Thursday night, Sohel said the previously announced figure was wrong and the actual death toll is 67.
After the fire broke out at Nanda Kumar Lane in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta area around 10:35pm, a total of 39 fire-fighting units from different stations and locals fought the flames throughout the night and managed to douse them after 12 hours of effort, said Ali Ahmed Khan, Director General (DG) of Fire Service and Civil Defense.
The fire spread to several adjacent buildings in minutes, apart from shops, housed warehouses of plastic materials, chemical compounds, and perfume and body spray – all of which were highly flammable materials and made it difficult for the fire-fighters to extinguish the flames quickly, the DG said.
Two Bangladesh Air Force choppers have been seen to take part in operation in the burning buildings.
Authorities have handed over bodies of 46 victims of the devastating Chawkbazar fire to their families while 23 bodies so far are yet to be handed over, report media quoting Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka district.
Those bodies will be handed over after DNA matching, the DC said.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken the duty to profile the DNA of the unidentified victims for handing over the bodies.
CID on Friday collected DNA samples of the relatives of 16 missing people killed in the fire for conducting DNA test, Nusrat Yasmeen, Assistant DNA Analyst of CID, said in front of Dhaka Medical College morgue on Friday afternoon.
Relatives of five deceased are yet to provide samples for DNA profiling, she told reporters, adding that it may take three to six months to get the results.
The time frame of cross matching from Friday to Saturday (today), said Abdullah Al Mamun, Data Entry Operator at CID’s DNA Laboratory.
Md Rajibul Islam, Dhaka district’s Assistant Deputy Commissioner, said, DNA samples of the corpses have already been collected.
Of the 23 unidentified bodies, five were at the DMCH morgue, five were sent to Mitford Hospital’s morgue, three to Kurmitola General Hospital’s morgue, five each to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, he said.
The government has announced it will bear the medical costs of the injured and funeral costs of the deceased.
Families of each deceased will receive Tk one lakh and each injured will receive Tk 50,000 as aid, according to a Labour Ministry statement.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced that families of each deceased will also receive Tk 20,000 for funeral expenses.
Although the origin of the inferno at Haji Wahed Mansion is still sketchy, this latest fire incident undoubtedly left numerous Old Dhaka families reeling from the fear of the loss of their loved ones, witness said.
Reminding of Old Dhaka residents as well as the nation of the June 2010 fire tragedy at Nimtoli that killed 124 people, the Chawkbazar incident has become the second-worst such disaster in the country’s history, they said.
In the meantime, DMCH became a hub of grief and pain for the victim families Thursday, February 21, a sad day which the nation observes by paying tribute to the 1952 Language Movement martyrs.
Three committees were also formed on Thursday by the Fire Service, the Home Ministry’s Security Services Division and the Industries Ministry to look into the great conflagration’s origin and make recommendations to avoid such incidents in the future.
The first two panels were given seven days to submit their findings, while the third one was given five days.
Dhaka South City Corporation has also formed another committee to inspect the scene of the tragedy and identify the risky buildings of the area in Chawkbazar. It will recommend further action against such buildings.
Flammable chemicals fuelled the fire and caused it to last longer in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta, says an officer of city corporation’s probe body.
“The building in Churihatta had storage of flammable chemicals,” said Lt Col SM Julfiqur Rahman, a Director of fire service, media reports.
The fatal fire at Chawkbazar was caused by an explosion of a gas cylinder, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun has said.
The minister made the claim while speaking to the media after visiting the site of the devastation on Thursday afternoon, the ministry said in a statement.
A compressed natural gas or CNG cylinder of a pick-up exploded first and the fire spread to the vehicles and buildings on the street swiftly, witnesses assume.
The lower floors of most of the buildings on the street are used as warehouses of raw plastic and perfume, which helped the fire spread quickly, according to Fire Service.
On Friday, two separate cases were filed in connection with the deadly fire. On behalf of Dhaka Metropolitan (DMP), Sub-Inspector Delwar Hossain recorded an unnatural death (UD) case with Chawkbazar Police Station, said
Maruf Hossain Sarder, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Lalbagh of Dhaka Metroplitan Police (DMP).
Charge sheet will be submitted against those found to be negligent, the police official said.
Besides, Md Asif Hossain, a local resident, filed another case with the same police station against two persons and 10-12 unknown individuals, said Chawkbazar Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Abdul Halim.
Asif, in his case statement, said the inferno broke out due to negligence of the building owner and the tenants of the house and demanded compensation for the loss of lives and properties.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director Major AKM Shakil Newaz said, “After dousing the blaze, we recovered body parts from the site and sent them to DMCH morgue. Hospital authority later found 67 dead bodies after fresh headcounts.”
Besides, a gayebana janaza was held at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque after Juma prayer for the victims of the ghastly Chawkbazar fire.
The namaj-e-janaza was led by Khatib of Baitul Mukarram at the south gate after the Juma prayers.
Earlier, the devotes also offered special prayers for the burn victims before they attended the gayebana janaza.
Also million of Juma devotes also burs into tear and they offered special prayer for burns victims across the country, report our local correspondents.
Meanwhile, the authorities have dug 85 graves in the burial ground of Dhaka’s Azimpur for those killed in a fire at Chawkbazar.
Burial of the victims started after the Dhaka Medical College Hospital authorities began handing over the bodies to the families on Thursday afternoon. As many as 46 of the 67 bodies brought to hospital were delivered to the families after identification until the evening.Many of the families started for their ancestral homes while some from Dhaka took the bodies to the Azimpur Graveyard.
Md Hafizul Islam, a senior official at the graveyard, said that Md Yasin, 33, from KB Road, Old Dhaka was buried around 5:30pm on Friday. Another victim of the fire, 40-year old ‘Ishaq’ was laid to rest around 7:30pm.
“The authorities have asked us to prepare graves following the Chawkbazar fire. We’ve dug 85,” Hafizul said.
“We are ready to bury the victims whenever the families bring the bodies. We will stay here overnight if necessary,” said Md Lutfor Rahman, an official at Dhaka South City Corporation.
At least 81 people, including 58 men, seven women and four children, reportedly died and scores injured when a devastating inferno completely gutted five multiple-storey buildings at Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar on Wednesday night.
Still confusion prevails over the number of thedeceased in the fire incident, but the death toll may rise as nine burns injured victims are not still out of danger due to injury in their respiratory tracts and other parts of the bodies, said Dr Samatalal Sen, Coordinator of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).
Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon has said, a total 70 bodies have been recovered from the site of fire.
Also Chief of DMCH Forensic Department Sohel Mahmud, claimed early Thursday that a total of 78 persons were burned to death. However, later on Thursday night, Sohel said the previously announced figure was wrong and the actual death toll is 67.
After the fire broke out at Nanda Kumar Lane in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta area around 10:35pm, a total of 39 fire-fighting units from different stations and locals fought the flames throughout the night and managed to douse them after 12 hours of effort, said Ali Ahmed Khan, Director General (DG) of Fire Service and Civil Defense.
The fire spread to several adjacent buildings in minutes, apart from shops, housed warehouses of plastic materials, chemical compounds, and perfume and body spray – all of which were highly flammable materials and made it difficult for the fire-fighters to extinguish the flames quickly, the DG said.
Two Bangladesh Air Force choppers have been seen to take part in operation in the burning buildings.
Authorities have handed over bodies of 46 victims of the devastating Chawkbazar fire to their families while 23 bodies so far are yet to be handed over, report media quoting Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka district.
Those bodies will be handed over after DNA matching, the DC said.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken the duty to profile the DNA of the unidentified victims for handing over the bodies.
CID on Friday collected DNA samples of the relatives of 16 missing people killed in the fire for conducting DNA test, Nusrat Yasmeen, Assistant DNA Analyst of CID, said in front of Dhaka Medical College morgue on Friday afternoon.
Relatives of five deceased are yet to provide samples for DNA profiling, she told reporters, adding that it may take three to six months to get the results.
The time frame of cross matching from Friday to Saturday (today), said Abdullah Al Mamun, Data Entry Operator at CID’s DNA Laboratory.
Md Rajibul Islam, Dhaka district’s Assistant Deputy Commissioner, said, DNA samples of the corpses have already been collected.
Of the 23 unidentified bodies, five were at the DMCH morgue, five were sent to Mitford Hospital’s morgue, three to Kurmitola General Hospital’s morgue, five each to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, he said.
The government has announced it will bear the medical costs of the injured and funeral costs of the deceased.
Families of each deceased will receive Tk one lakh and each injured will receive Tk 50,000 as aid, according to a Labour Ministry statement.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced that families of each deceased will also receive Tk 20,000 for funeral expenses.
Although the origin of the inferno at Haji Wahed Mansion is still sketchy, this latest fire incident undoubtedly left numerous Old Dhaka families reeling from the fear of the loss of their loved ones, witness said.
Reminding of Old Dhaka residents as well as the nation of the June 2010 fire tragedy at Nimtoli that killed 124 people, the Chawkbazar incident has become the second-worst such disaster in the country’s history, they said.
In the meantime, DMCH became a hub of grief and pain for the victim families Thursday, February 21, a sad day which the nation observes by paying tribute to the 1952 Language Movement martyrs.
Three committees were also formed on Thursday by the Fire Service, the Home Ministry’s Security Services Division and the Industries Ministry to look into the great conflagration’s origin and make recommendations to avoid such incidents in the future.
The first two panels were given seven days to submit their findings, while the third one was given five days.
Dhaka South City Corporation has also formed another committee to inspect the scene of the tragedy and identify the risky buildings of the area in Chawkbazar. It will recommend further action against such buildings.
Flammable chemicals fuelled the fire and caused it to last longer in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta, says an officer of city corporation’s probe body.
“The building in Churihatta had storage of flammable chemicals,” said Lt Col SM Julfiqur Rahman, a Director of fire service, media reports.
The fatal fire at Chawkbazar was caused by an explosion of a gas cylinder, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun has said.
The minister made the claim while speaking to the media after visiting the site of the devastation on Thursday afternoon, the ministry said in a statement.
A compressed natural gas or CNG cylinder of a pick-up exploded first and the fire spread to the vehicles and buildings on the street swiftly, witnesses assume.
The lower floors of most of the buildings on the street are used as warehouses of raw plastic and perfume, which helped the fire spread quickly, according to Fire Service.
On Friday, two separate cases were filed in connection with the deadly fire. On behalf of Dhaka Metropolitan (DMP), Sub-Inspector Delwar Hossain recorded an unnatural death (UD) case with Chawkbazar Police Station, said
Maruf Hossain Sarder, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Lalbagh of Dhaka Metroplitan Police (DMP).
Charge sheet will be submitted against those found to be negligent, the police official said.
Besides, Md Asif Hossain, a local resident, filed another case with the same police station against two persons and 10-12 unknown individuals, said Chawkbazar Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Abdul Halim.
Asif, in his case statement, said the inferno broke out due to negligence of the building owner and the tenants of the house and demanded compensation for the loss of lives and properties.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director Major AKM Shakil Newaz said, “After dousing the blaze, we recovered body parts from the site and sent them to DMCH morgue. Hospital authority later found 67 dead bodies after fresh headcounts.”
Besides, a gayebana janaza was held at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque after Juma prayer for the victims of the ghastly Chawkbazar fire.
The namaj-e-janaza was led by Khatib of Baitul Mukarram at the south gate after the Juma prayers.
Earlier, the devotes also offered special prayers for the burn victims before they attended the gayebana janaza.
Also million of Juma devotes also burs into tear and they offered special prayer for burns victims across the country, report our local correspondents.
Meanwhile, the authorities have dug 85 graves in the burial ground of Dhaka’s Azimpur for those killed in a fire at Chawkbazar.
Burial of the victims started after the Dhaka Medical College Hospital authorities began handing over the bodies to the families on Thursday afternoon. As many as 46 of the 67 bodies brought to hospital were delivered to the families after identification until the evening.Many of the families started for their ancestral homes while some from Dhaka took the bodies to the Azimpur Graveyard.
Md Hafizul Islam, a senior official at the graveyard, said that Md Yasin, 33, from KB Road, Old Dhaka was buried around 5:30pm on Friday. Another victim of the fire, 40-year old ‘Ishaq’ was laid to rest around 7:30pm.
“The authorities have asked us to prepare graves following the Chawkbazar fire. We’ve dug 85,” Hafizul said.
“We are ready to bury the victims whenever the families bring the bodies. We will stay here overnight if necessary,” said Md Lutfor Rahman, an official at Dhaka South City Corporation.
