Fire
Rangpur: 1 arrested in Joypurhat under DSA, 42 for arson
Joypurhat police have arrested a person under the Digital Security Act (DSA) and 42 others in connection to attacks that took place in Rangpur against the minority Hindu community, in which their houses were set ablaze.
Poritosh Sarkar of Pirganj was arrested on Monday under DSA for spreading hate through social media posts that provoked people to set fire to the houses of the minorities, said additional police commissioner Kamruzzaman.
READ: Don’t resort to arson again in name of movement, Quader warns BNP
Till Monday night 42 others had been arrested in connection to arson, he said.
Attempts are being made to arrest the rest involved in the incident, he added.
READ: Arson attack on buses: 178 BNP men get anticipatory bail
Court indicts ex-Rajuk chairman, three others over FR Tower fire
A Dhaka court on Monday framed charges against four people, including the former Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) chairman Humayun Khadem in a case filed over the FR Tower fire. Special Judge of Dhaka division, Syed Kamal Hossain indicted the four giving a go-ahead of their trials. The court fixed November 15 for the deposition of the witnesses.
The other defendants in the case are--Syed Md Hossain Imam Faruque, leaseholder of FR Tower, Liakat Ali Khan Mukul, chairman of Rupayan Housing Estate and former chief engineer of Rajuk Saidur Rahman.
READ: Banani double rape case: Court sets Oct 27 for delivering judgment
The court also exonerated Rajuk’s former authorized officer Syed Makbul Ahmed because of his death. All the four accused are now out on bail. The 23-storied FR Tower caught fire on March 28, 2019, leaving 25 people dead and 73 others injured.
One killed, 2 burn injured in Chatttogram blast
A man was killed and two others suffered burn injuries in a fire following an explosion at a house at Bayezid Balu chara in Chattogram port city on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Md Faruk alias Akash, 27.
Read: Slum in Chattogram city catches fire
The explosion occurred on the ground floor of the three-storey building around 10:30 am, leaving three people including a pedestrian injured, said Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Bayezid Bostami Police Station.
The injured were taken to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital with 70 percent burn injuries where a victim died.
On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and doused the flame.
Read: ‘Robber’ killed in ‘gunfight’ in Chattogram
The second floor of the building houses a mosque and a madrasha and the other floors were used as mess, said the OC.
Fire service sources said the fire might have broken out flowing a gas cylinder blast.
House fire in eastern Pakistan kills 7 family members
Police were investigating after a fire overnight in eastern Pakistan killed seven family members, a rescue official said Sunday.
The fire ignited at a house in the Ali Pur area of Muzaffar Garh district in Punjab province, said rescue service chief Dr. Hussain Mian.
Read: 4 terrorists killed in clash with security forces in SW Pakistan
He said firefighters retrieved the charred bodies of a 65-year-old man, two women ages 35 and 19, three boys ages 3, 10 and 12 and a 2-month-old infant.
Mian said the bodies have been sent for autopsy and forensic examination.
Police said the cause of the fire was being investigated and investigators want to know why none of the family members woke up when the fire erupted.
Fire destroys 30 shops in Sitakunda kitchen market
A fire swept through a kitchen market on Saturday morning gutting 30 shops in Vatiari union of Sitakunda upazila in Chattogram.
The locals called Kumira Fire Service and Naval Fire Service immediately after the fire broke out around 7am at Uttar Bazar area.
Also read: Fire guts 70 shops in Patuakhali New Market
Station Officer of Kumira Fire service said a total of 30 small and big shops were destroyed before the blaze was brought under control.
“The actual amount of losses or the origin of the fire couldn’t be known immediately. An investigation is underway,” he said.
However, the local traders claimed they incurred losses of around Tk 50 lakh.
Also read: Slum in Chattogram city catches fire
Slum in Chattogram city catches fire
A massive fire broke out at a slum in Debpahar area of Chawkbazar in Chattogram port city on Friday.
The fire broke out around 11 am, said Newton Das, Deputy Assistant Director of Chattogram Fire Service office, Agrabad.
READ: A college girl dies after she set herself on fire in Dhanmondi
“Seven firefighting vehicles from different units of the fire service rushed to the spot immediately after the fire broke out. It’s now almost under control," he said.
READ: Fire guts 70 shops in Patuakhali New Market
Further details of the incident are still awaited.
At least 46 killed in Taiwanese apartment building inferno
At least 46 people were killed and another 41 injured after a fire broke out early Thursday in a run-down mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung, officials said.
Neighborhood residents said the 13-story building was home to many poor, elderly and disabled people and it wasn't clear how many of the 120 units were occupied.
Witnesses said they heard something that sounded like an explosion at about 3 a.m. when the blaze erupted in the building's lower floors, which housed a closed movie theater, abandoned restaurants and karaoke clubs.
Tsai Hsiu-Chin, 70, had lived in the building for 15 years. At 3 a.m., she heard someone screaming "fire." She said she took the elevator down, escaping with just the clothing on her back.
"I didn't bring anything. I just cared about saving my life," she said, sitting opposite the charred building on Thursday night, trying to process her experience over a beer with a friend.
Across the street, Lin Chie-ying said she was awoken in her home by the sound of ambulances and fire trucks. "I thought our home would burn up too," she said.
Also read: Ensure fire safety in high-rise buildings: PM
It took firefighters until after 7 a.m. to extinguish the blaze. Many of the upper floors appeared not to have been damaged directly. However, the smoke was thick enough to have killed and injured the several dozens living above the fire.
Throughout Thursday, first responders pored through the wreckage and recovered dozens of bodies. Another 14 of 55 taken initially to the hospital were confirmed dead on arrival or shortly after.
The building's age and piles of debris blocking access to many areas complicated search and rescue efforts, officials said, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.
Later in the day, the smell of smoke still lingered and the sound of shattering glass rang throughout the area. Construction workers were raised on a crane to break out the remaining glass from window frames with a crowbar, and waited to put up scaffolding to prevent the building from being a further hazard.
Scattered crowds of people gathered across the street. Curious onlookers drove by on their scooters and paused to look at the damage.
The decades-old apartment building is one of many in the Yancheng district, an older part of Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.8 million people in southwestern Taiwan.
"For the families and Yancheng, I feel incomparable pain and I blame myself deeply," Mayor Chen Chi Mai said at a news conference, bowing in apology. "Here I want to express my deepest sorrow to all the wounded and those who died, as well as their families and all the residents."
Read:Fuel tanker explodes in Lebanon, killing 20, wounding dozens
It appears the fire broke out on the ground floor but it was not immediately clear exactly where and the cause was still under investigation.
The United Daily News said that investigators were focusing on a first-floor tea shop where the fire had started, and police were looking into a resident who reportedly fought with his girlfriend earlier on Wednesday. They had not ruled out arson, the newspaper said.
Fire extinguishers had been installed last month, but only three per floor because the residents could not afford to pay more, the United Daily News, a major newspaper, reported.
A 1995 fire at a nightclub in Taichung, Taiwan's third-largest city, killed 64 people in the country's deadliest such disaster in recent times.
A college girl dies after she set herself on fire in Dhanmondi
A student of Azimpur Girls School and College on Tuesday succumbed to severe burn injuries she had suffered three days ago at her Dhanmondi house.
Ishita Yeasin, 19, died at the ICU of Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, where she was brought on Saturday night with 80 per cent of her body burnt, said Dr. Partha Shankar Paal, resident medical officer of the institute.
Read:BRUR student kills self after posting status on Facebook
She reportedly poured kerosene on her body before setting herself on fire, according to the family members.
Ishita was preparing to appear before HSC examination this year.
She lived with her parents along with her two brothers in the Government Laboratory School quarter in the city's Dhanmondi area.
Read: Embarrassed by son’s ‘extramarital affair’, Sirajganj mother kills self
Parents had no idea about why their daughter, the eldest of the three siblings, took to this extreme step of taking her own life.
However, Ishita’s uncle Mizanur Rahman, said she might have got upset after her mother beat her younger brother to discipline the siblings about study. She set her on fire after the incident, he said.
Firefighters hold drill at Bangabazar Market
A fire drill was conducted at Bangabazar Market in Dhaka on Saturday, marking the International Fire Prevention Day.
Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense arranged the programme early on Saturday, said a release.
Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defense (Dhaka division), Dinmoni Sharma led the hour-long fire drill.
Some 20 units from seven fire stations participated in the programme. Some local people, including the owners of shops and security guards, also joined the programme.
READ: PRAN holds fire drill at factory in Narsingdi
Fire Prevention Day is observed on October 9. The day aims at promoting awareness on the ways to prevent fire disasters.
The celebration of the day recognises the work of the firefighters who relieve people during emergency situations.
READ: Firefighters rescue cat from Jashore hospital
Fire guts 70 shops in Patuakhali New Market
At least 70 shops were gutted in a fire which broke out at a busy market in Patuakhali district town in the early hours of Thursday.
Mantaj Uddin, deputy director of Barishal Fire Service and Civil Defense, said the fire started at a shop in New Market and soon spread to other outlets.
Six fire tenders were pressed into service but it took them nearly two hours to contain the blaze, the officer said. "Efforts are still on to completely douse the flames."
Read:Fire breaks out in Faridpur Jute mill, no casualties reported
Some 70 shops have been gutted in the fire, according to shopkeepers and residents.
Read: Angry ride-sharing biker sets bike on fire in Dhaka
A probe has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the fire, said Mantaj.