Staff Reporter :
The death toll in the Banani FR Tower’s inferno rose to 25, police said on Friday.
The eighth, ninth and 10th floors of the 22-storey building were badly affected in the fire on Thursday, but most of the bodies of victims were recovered from the 11th floor, sources said.
Sources said, the building lacked fire equipment, its emergency exits were inadequate and locked during fire and it had been illegally extended as it had no permission for its top four floors.
Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan Zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Mustak Ahmed said that 19 bodies were kept in different hospitals and six bodies found during the search on different floors of the building.
Later, 24 bodies were handed over to their relatives in the meantime.
The police officials also disclosed the identities of the deceased in the morning after completion of searching by the government agencies.
The names are Parvez Sazzad 47 from Gopalganj, Abdullah Al Mamun 36 from Regent Air Express, Syeda Amina Yesmin 48 from Moulvibazar who was on the ninth floor, Abdullah Al Faruk, 35,
who was on the 10th floor, Maksudur Rahman, 36 from Gandaria, Rezaul Karim Razu 42, , Mizanur Rahman 35, Rumki Akhter 35, Md Salauddin Mithu 25, Nahidul Islam Tusar 35, Ahmad Jafar 59, Jebunnesa 30, Mostafizur Rahman 36, Md Monir Hossain Sarder 52, Florida Khanam Poli 45, Ataur Rahman 62, Anjir Siddique Abir 37, Md Monjur Hossain 37, Md Iftekhar Hossain Mithu 37, Sheikh Zerin Tasnim 25, Md Fazle Rabbi 30, Atiqur Rahman 42, Mizanur Rahman, 35 and Md Ayub Ali.
The only foreign deceased Sri Lankan national Nirosh Vigma Rajah, 28, worked with Scanwell Logistics in the building. The formalities of the handover of the bodies were underway, he said.
Earlier in the morning, Fire Service personnel conducted a final sweep on all the floors of the 22-storey FR Tower in Banani to ensure that there is no risks of another fire outbreak.
Shahjahan Sikder, a Senior Station Officer of the Fire Service, said that the responsibilities for the building were in the process of being transferred to the police as the search did not reveal any further risks.
“A search operation was completed around 1pm. We found that there are no risks of another outbreak of fire.”
About 21 units of the Fire Service were engaged in efforts to tame a blaze which broke out in the building at Banani’s Kamal Ataturk Avenue on Thursday afternoon. The flames were fully doused after nearly seven and a half hours of efforts.
Besides the Fire Service and Civil Defence, members of the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force joined the rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, the Fire Service officials said that the people, who were trapped inside the FR Tower in Dhaka’s Banani area during the deadly fire incident on Thursday, could not come out of the building as its emergency exit points were closed.
“We found many emergency exit points of the FR Tower were just eyewash,” Saleh Uddin, Assistant Director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told the media on Friday.
“No demonstration on how to use emergency exit points of the building was held ever, and those were kept locked on different floors. As a result, the trapped people could not come out of the building using the emergency exits,” the Fire Service official said.
“There are two staircases. The authorities claimed the narrow one as the fire exit but it has no facility of being a proper fire exit. Even, this exit was locked on different floors used by separate owners,” said Shahjahan Sikder, a senior Station Officer of Fire Service.
If these staircases were open then the casualties could have been less, he said.
As soon as a man enters a properly designed fire exit, he is supposed to be safe from fire, heat and smoke, but it was not like that, he added.
Around five to six people died after jumping from the building while most of the people met the tragic end of their lives due to suffocation from the huge smoke inside the building, he said.
Without finding alternative exit points, the trapped people climbed to the eleventh floor to save their lives but failed as the emergency exits were locked, the source told our correspondent seeking anonymity.
The building, built on an eight-katha plot, has 6,000 square feet space for commercial purposes on each of its floors, according to its website.
But there was no fire-protected exit in the building that houses a restaurant, a coffee shop, a branch of state-run Pubali Bank, a buying house, a freight-forwarding company, and many other firms, the Fire Service source said.
The tragic incident saw 25 people to meet their end while around 100 others were injured.
Meanwhile, Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim said, It is not an accident, but murder. No one of those responsible for such a cruel carnage will be spared. Exemplary actions will be taken against them, no matter how much powerful they are,” he said.
Talking to reporters after visiting the fire-hit FR Tower, the Minister also said, ‘The Prime Minister has directed us not to spare anyone responsible for the incident. Our Ministry has also decided to take stern actions against them.’
He said that a number of probe bodies had been formed to look into the Banani fire incident and punitive actions would be taken against those responsible as per the existing law based on reports of the probe committees.
SM Rezaul Karim said the FR Tower was built violating rules. “Permission was given only for an 18-storey building, but a 22-story building was constructed illegally.”
Replying to a question, SM Rezaul Karim said they would also take actions if government officials’ involvement was found in illegal construction of the building.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam said, the DNCC authorities will soon issue a notice asking owners to submit documents related to their buildings safety measures in 10 days.
He came up with the information while talking to reporters after visiting the fire affected FR Tower in Dhaka’s Banani on Thursday morning.
If anyone fails to comply with the notice by the deadline, action will be taken against the building owners, the mayor said.
Mobile Court teams will be sent to the buildings after the notice is issued, said the Mayor..
“If the mobile court teams do not find any existence of fire safety and building safety measures, then they will take necessary steps,” he warned.
The death toll in the Banani FR Tower’s inferno rose to 25, police said on Friday.
The eighth, ninth and 10th floors of the 22-storey building were badly affected in the fire on Thursday, but most of the bodies of victims were recovered from the 11th floor, sources said.
Sources said, the building lacked fire equipment, its emergency exits were inadequate and locked during fire and it had been illegally extended as it had no permission for its top four floors.
Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan Zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Mustak Ahmed said that 19 bodies were kept in different hospitals and six bodies found during the search on different floors of the building.
Later, 24 bodies were handed over to their relatives in the meantime.
The police officials also disclosed the identities of the deceased in the morning after completion of searching by the government agencies.
The names are Parvez Sazzad 47 from Gopalganj, Abdullah Al Mamun 36 from Regent Air Express, Syeda Amina Yesmin 48 from Moulvibazar who was on the ninth floor, Abdullah Al Faruk, 35,
who was on the 10th floor, Maksudur Rahman, 36 from Gandaria, Rezaul Karim Razu 42, , Mizanur Rahman 35, Rumki Akhter 35, Md Salauddin Mithu 25, Nahidul Islam Tusar 35, Ahmad Jafar 59, Jebunnesa 30, Mostafizur Rahman 36, Md Monir Hossain Sarder 52, Florida Khanam Poli 45, Ataur Rahman 62, Anjir Siddique Abir 37, Md Monjur Hossain 37, Md Iftekhar Hossain Mithu 37, Sheikh Zerin Tasnim 25, Md Fazle Rabbi 30, Atiqur Rahman 42, Mizanur Rahman, 35 and Md Ayub Ali.
The only foreign deceased Sri Lankan national Nirosh Vigma Rajah, 28, worked with Scanwell Logistics in the building. The formalities of the handover of the bodies were underway, he said.
Earlier in the morning, Fire Service personnel conducted a final sweep on all the floors of the 22-storey FR Tower in Banani to ensure that there is no risks of another fire outbreak.
Shahjahan Sikder, a Senior Station Officer of the Fire Service, said that the responsibilities for the building were in the process of being transferred to the police as the search did not reveal any further risks.
“A search operation was completed around 1pm. We found that there are no risks of another outbreak of fire.”
About 21 units of the Fire Service were engaged in efforts to tame a blaze which broke out in the building at Banani’s Kamal Ataturk Avenue on Thursday afternoon. The flames were fully doused after nearly seven and a half hours of efforts.
Besides the Fire Service and Civil Defence, members of the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force joined the rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, the Fire Service officials said that the people, who were trapped inside the FR Tower in Dhaka’s Banani area during the deadly fire incident on Thursday, could not come out of the building as its emergency exit points were closed.
“We found many emergency exit points of the FR Tower were just eyewash,” Saleh Uddin, Assistant Director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, told the media on Friday.
“No demonstration on how to use emergency exit points of the building was held ever, and those were kept locked on different floors. As a result, the trapped people could not come out of the building using the emergency exits,” the Fire Service official said.
“There are two staircases. The authorities claimed the narrow one as the fire exit but it has no facility of being a proper fire exit. Even, this exit was locked on different floors used by separate owners,” said Shahjahan Sikder, a senior Station Officer of Fire Service.
If these staircases were open then the casualties could have been less, he said.
As soon as a man enters a properly designed fire exit, he is supposed to be safe from fire, heat and smoke, but it was not like that, he added.
Around five to six people died after jumping from the building while most of the people met the tragic end of their lives due to suffocation from the huge smoke inside the building, he said.
Without finding alternative exit points, the trapped people climbed to the eleventh floor to save their lives but failed as the emergency exits were locked, the source told our correspondent seeking anonymity.
The building, built on an eight-katha plot, has 6,000 square feet space for commercial purposes on each of its floors, according to its website.
But there was no fire-protected exit in the building that houses a restaurant, a coffee shop, a branch of state-run Pubali Bank, a buying house, a freight-forwarding company, and many other firms, the Fire Service source said.
The tragic incident saw 25 people to meet their end while around 100 others were injured.
Meanwhile, Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim said, It is not an accident, but murder. No one of those responsible for such a cruel carnage will be spared. Exemplary actions will be taken against them, no matter how much powerful they are,” he said.
Talking to reporters after visiting the fire-hit FR Tower, the Minister also said, ‘The Prime Minister has directed us not to spare anyone responsible for the incident. Our Ministry has also decided to take stern actions against them.’
He said that a number of probe bodies had been formed to look into the Banani fire incident and punitive actions would be taken against those responsible as per the existing law based on reports of the probe committees.
SM Rezaul Karim said the FR Tower was built violating rules. “Permission was given only for an 18-storey building, but a 22-story building was constructed illegally.”
Replying to a question, SM Rezaul Karim said they would also take actions if government officials’ involvement was found in illegal construction of the building.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam said, the DNCC authorities will soon issue a notice asking owners to submit documents related to their buildings safety measures in 10 days.
He came up with the information while talking to reporters after visiting the fire affected FR Tower in Dhaka’s Banani on Thursday morning.
If anyone fails to comply with the notice by the deadline, action will be taken against the building owners, the mayor said.
Mobile Court teams will be sent to the buildings after the notice is issued, said the Mayor..
“If the mobile court teams do not find any existence of fire safety and building safety measures, then they will take necessary steps,” he warned.
