ON Sunday 10 people were killed when fire engulfed a three storied electric fan factory in Gazipur. There was no fire extinguishing system, fire alarm, emergency exit door and fire safety measures. Despite many promises in the recent years to comply the fire compliance, neither factory owners, nor the government seems sincere enough to ensure workplace safety, except some garment industries after Rana Plaza disaster. Firefighters recovered the charred bodies of workers after they doused the fire on the top floor of the three-storey Luxury Smart Energy Saving Fan Factory. The building was not meant for industrial use. The factory had no clearance from the Department of Environment too. There was only one stairwell and one gate. The factory had been running illegally for three years in the residential area. Police claimed that the factory owners employed the workers in the unauthorised factory and thus, killed them. The factory management used to lock every floor as well as the main gate of the building during work hours in the name of preventing theft.
We saw same pattern of security measure in Tazrin Fashion fire incident, but learnt nothing. In a similar fire on Wednesday at a plastic factory in Keraniganj, 19 workers died and 13 others are still fighting for life. Survivors and firefighters said the workers could not be evacuated on time as there was only one gate. The factory owners’ unending indifference to the fire safety measures is taking life almost every day.
Whenever there is a fatal fire incident, the relevant authorities become very much active. But they return to their usual mood within a few days. It’s very mysterious why the authorities concerned don’t take effective step to bring all factories under the fire safety measures. How these factories get license to operate in the residential area? These questions must be answered.
