The old part of Dhaka experienced another fatal fire incident in the wee hours of Friday, leaving five persons dead and two others injured.
The deadly incident happened at Romana Rubber Industries at Kamalbagh in the capital’s Soarighat area.
The five deceased have been identified as Monir Hossain (31) of Chandpur, Abdur Rahman Rubel (35) of Barisal, Aminul (30) of Manikganj, Kamrul Islam (22) of Sherpur and Shamim Mia (35) of Kishoreganj’s Bajitpur. All the victims were workers of the factory.
According to the locals, the shoe factory had many drums filled with rubber, plastic and chemicals. The fire was originated at around 1:15am. It took a terrible turn due to these combustible substances.
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The factory is located just 100-150 yards away from the residential area of Kamalbagh. Multiple drums filled with chemicals were found on the ground floor of the two-storey building. There was also plastic and rubber used for making shoes on both floors.
Due to the fire, the entire warehouse including the plastics and rubber was burnt to ashes. Meanwhile, a kitchen market called Medina Bazaar next to the factory was also gutted in the fire. All kinds of commodities in the market were burnt, locals said.
Although the building was originally a two-storey building, a deck was built on the first floor for the workers to stay. The bodies of five killed workers were recovered from there.
Two other survivours were burnt. The injured were rescued and taken to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital.
Hafizur Rahman, assistant deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense Department told Bangladesh Post, “On information firefighters rushed to spot and doused the fire. However, the main cause behind the fire could not be known immediately.”
“A large quantity of rubber raw material was found at the spot. Rubber is a type of petroleum substance. There were also DOP oil reserves, which are combustible substances. However, the exact cause of the fire will be known after an investigation,” he added.
According to the fire service department, a loud noise was heard around 1 am. Later, when screams were heard, locals noticed the fire and informed the firefighters.
Eight units of Fire Service and Civil Defense Department rushed to the spot and doused the fire after a fanatic effort of about two hours.
Such accidents have become rather occasional in old Dhaka. Over the last few years, many areas of old Dhaka have fallen victim to such tragedies leading to horrific losses of numerous lives.
Almost a year ago, a fire broke out at a plastic factory in Old Dhaka's Chawkbazar area. The year before, in 2019, around 70 people lost their lives in a larger fire incident at a chemical warehouse in the same area of the capital.
The largest fire tragedy in old Dhaka dates back to June 3, 2010, when around 123 people lost their lives in a terrible fire at a chemical warehouse in Nimtali.
The government at the time had said that the chemical warehouse would be removed from old Dhaka after the Nimtali tragedy. However, chemical business in the capital’s old Dhaka area is still continuing despite repeated fatal accidents.
Furthermore, the infrastructure of old Dhaka remains backdated and congested. Both residential and commercial areas share narrow roads in compact spaces. Such locations are difficult to access by emergency services such as fire extinguishers or ambulances during any sort of incident.
