Staff Reporter :
The fire that burnt down over one hundred shops in the capital’s Bashundhara City Shopping Mall might have been caused by an electrical malfunction, said Ajit Kumar Bhawmik, Joint Director of Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD)
Ajit Bhawmik, who is heading the five-member probe committee formed on the August 21 incident, said, “Although the investigation is yet to conclude, preliminary findings indicate towards short-circuit.”
The FSCD official said, the absence of any ‘tray’ to carry the electrical cables exposed the wiring to the fire and helped the fire to spread.
Shutting down shops when the fire started also
helped the flames to grow in intensity, he said. “We have spoken to 13 people so far, two of them are owners of shops and the rest are the mall’s fire-fighting and security staff. We will speak to more owners,” Ajit Bhawmik said.
“We are still investigating into the incident as we could not estimate the loss of the fire incident and the committee will publish final report soon after discuss with the shop owners,” he said.
In a query, he said that the fire originated from Shop No. 60, though the market authorities claimed that the fire might have originated from Shop No. 70.
The other members of the committee are: FSCD Assistant Deputy Director Rafiqul Islam, Mamun Mahmud, Senior Station Officer Tanharul Islam and Shazadi Sultana.
When contacted, M M Jasim Uddin, Head of Marketing of Bashundhara City Development Limited, said, “We are repairing the central air-conditioner machine to resume the market soon.”
We will be sure about the cause and loss of the fire after getting the final report from the concerned committee, he said. He expected that the market will be reopened on Thursday.
The devastating fire that caught in the capital’s Bashundhara City Shopping Mall on August 21 has already created panic among the traders, employees and shoppers ahead of upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Over 1,800 shops in the market are feared to be victimized of huge losses due to the fire.
Earlier on March 13, 2009, seven employees of the shopping complex, including its own firefighter, died in a fire incident.
The fire that burnt down over one hundred shops in the capital’s Bashundhara City Shopping Mall might have been caused by an electrical malfunction, said Ajit Kumar Bhawmik, Joint Director of Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD)
Ajit Bhawmik, who is heading the five-member probe committee formed on the August 21 incident, said, “Although the investigation is yet to conclude, preliminary findings indicate towards short-circuit.”
The FSCD official said, the absence of any ‘tray’ to carry the electrical cables exposed the wiring to the fire and helped the fire to spread.
Shutting down shops when the fire started also
helped the flames to grow in intensity, he said. “We have spoken to 13 people so far, two of them are owners of shops and the rest are the mall’s fire-fighting and security staff. We will speak to more owners,” Ajit Bhawmik said.
“We are still investigating into the incident as we could not estimate the loss of the fire incident and the committee will publish final report soon after discuss with the shop owners,” he said.
In a query, he said that the fire originated from Shop No. 60, though the market authorities claimed that the fire might have originated from Shop No. 70.
The other members of the committee are: FSCD Assistant Deputy Director Rafiqul Islam, Mamun Mahmud, Senior Station Officer Tanharul Islam and Shazadi Sultana.
When contacted, M M Jasim Uddin, Head of Marketing of Bashundhara City Development Limited, said, “We are repairing the central air-conditioner machine to resume the market soon.”
We will be sure about the cause and loss of the fire after getting the final report from the concerned committee, he said. He expected that the market will be reopened on Thursday.
The devastating fire that caught in the capital’s Bashundhara City Shopping Mall on August 21 has already created panic among the traders, employees and shoppers ahead of upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Over 1,800 shops in the market are feared to be victimized of huge losses due to the fire.
Earlier on March 13, 2009, seven employees of the shopping complex, including its own firefighter, died in a fire incident.
