Bangladesh: Fire kills at least 70 in capital Dhaka

UPDATES WITH EYEWITNESSES’ REMARKS; ADDS QUOTES BY MINISTERS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - At least 70 people have been killed since Wednesday night when a massive fire spread through several apartment blocks and roads in a congested old part of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, a fire service official said on Thursday.

The fire blazing out from a private car on the road spread instantly to an adjacent multistorey building where huge amount of chemical substances was kept in "unsafe conditions", according to the preliminary findings of fire service.

“We have found huge amounts of materials, including body spray, body lotion and other cosmetics which are highly inflammable, stored in a chemical warehouse,” Fire Service and Civil Defense Director AKM Shakil Neoaz told Anadolu Agency.

An extensive investigation into the incident is required to learn the details of it, he added.

A three-member investigation committee was formed to file a report within seven days to dig out the causes and damages of the incident, Neoaz said.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter on the ground, the fire destroyed scores of vehicles, including including fifteen motorbikes, three private cars, and dozens of rickshaws and vans, along the road.

“At around 10.30 p.m. (0400 GMT), I heard loud noice and saw blazes covering a private car. Instantly, another car near to it blasted and thus fire spread rapidly,” Mohammad Saydul Islam, an eyewitness, told Anadolu Agency.

He said there were two local restaurants with big gas cylinders which they used for cooking on the both sides of the road.

“Within a few seconds, both of the gas cylinders exploded simultaneously and fire flared up.”

Also speaking to Anadolu Agency, Golam Sarwar, another eyewitness, said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which had several shop on it, of the apartment building.

The first floor was being used as a warehouse of plastic goods, cosmetics and perfume, while some families were living on the upper floors, he added.

Visiting the scene on Thursday noon, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said they are determined to remove all the chemical warehouses from the old part of the capital city.

All the victims will be compensated and the damaged buildings will be repaired soon upon the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he added.

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mohammad Enamur Rahman told Anadolu Agency that already 2 million Bangladeshi Taka (some $24,000) was allocated for the treatment of the victims.

“We have also allocated 20,000 Bangladeshi ($238) for the burial of each body”, the minister added.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the victims rushed to the morgue of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital to identify the bodies.

Obaidul Quader, secretary-general of the ruling Ruling Awami League party, told the reporters at the scene that the government would take all the necessary precautions to avert any further such disaster in the future following the investigation into the case.

“This is a great lesson for us and we will take all necessary initiatives including removal of plastic warehouses to make the old part of the capital safe,” Quader, also road, transport and bridges minister, assured.

This old part of the capital Dhaka has been marked as one of the fire-prone areas due to unsafe chemical storages in many buildings for decades.

In 2010, 124 people were killed in a horrific fire in the Nimtoli area belonged to the same old part of capital Dhaka.