Rupganj fire
Rupganj factory fire: Tk 50,000 medical assistance provided to injured
The injured workers undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in connection with the massive factory fire in Rupganj were given medical assistance of Tk 50,000 from the Bangladesh Workers Welfare Foundation fund under the Ministry of Labor and Employment on Saturday.
Today, the secretary of the ministry KM Abdus Salam handed over a check of Tk 50,000 for medical aid to each of the three workers undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
A total of Tk 11 lakh has been handed over to 22 injured workers including those undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College and a private hospital in Rupganj.
Besides, Tk 2 lac will be provided to the deceased upon confirming their identities, KM Abdus Salam told reporters.
Earlier on Friday, State Minister for Labor and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian pledged that Legal action will be taken against the owners of the Rupganj factory where over 50 workers died in a fire, if there is evidence of their negligence.
Also read: Locked inside a factory without fire exit, 52 lives go up in flames
It is when she said that the family of the deceased would be provided with Tk 2 lac and the injured Tk 50,000 tomorrow from the Bangladesh Workers Welfare Foundation fund under the labor ministry.
Earlier on Saturday, police arrested Md Abul Hashem, chairman of the group Sajeeb Group that owns the factory, his four sons -- Hashem Bin Hashem, Tareq Ibrahim, Tawsib Ibrahim and Tanjim Ibrahim-- and its CEO Shahan Sha Azad, DGM Mamunur Rashid and head of admin Salauddin.
The eight will be produced before court later in the day, said Superintendent of Police (Narayanganj) Md Zaidul Alam.
So far 52 workers, some of them reportedly teen-aged boys and girls, were killed in the devastating fire that tore through the seven-story factory that produced foods and beverages such as juice, cold drinks, toast biscuits and laccha semai.
According to the fire service, huge amount of plastic and packaging materials in the building may have fuelled the fire in just a few minutes after it broke out.
They said the blocked door at the factory’s staircase has caused so many deaths that could have been avoided.
Also read: Rupganj factory fire: Sajeeb Group chairman, 4 sons, CEO among 8 arrested
It took around 27 hours for 18 fire fighting units to douse the blaze completely as at some floors huge amounts of inflammable substances were stockpiled.
On Friday noon, after breaking the locked door of the fourth floor, fire fighters discovered rows of bodies burnt to ashes.
Fire fighters recovered 49 bodies from the floor and sent them to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital’s morgue, which took the death toll to 52 from the tragic incident. None of the 49 bodies could be identified yet as they have completely been charred.
Three others died from injuries after jumping off the building on Thursday.
Narayanganj fire: India, Canada deeply saddened by loss of lives
Indian High Commission in Dhaka has expressed deep shock at the loss of lives in the tragic fire in Narayanganj.
"Deeply saddened by the loss of so many lives in the tragic fire in Narayanganj," the high commission tweeted Saturday. It conveyed deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones or were injured in the fire.
Also read: Locked inside a factory without fire exit, 52 lives go up in flames
"Our prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy," the high commission said.
Also, the High Commission of Canada is "deeply saddened" to hear of the deadly factory fire in Narayanganj.
Also read: Rupganj factory fire: Sajeeb Group chairman, 4 sons, CEO among 8 arrested
"We extend our deepest sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones and we wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured," the high commission tweeted.
At least 52 people died in a fire Thursday at a factory in Narayanganj's Rupganj, the latest industrial disaster in the country.
Rupganj fire: Sajeeb Group chairman, sons among 8 put on remand
A Narayanganj court on Saturday placed the eight people, including the chairman of Sajeeb Group, his four sons and the group CEO, on a four-day remand each following their arrest in connection with the Rupganj factory fire case.
Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate Fahmida Khanam passed the order in the afternoon after a hearing as police produced the arrestees before the court seeking a 10-day remand for them, inspector Asaduzzaman told the UNB correspondent from the court.
Earlier in the day, Narayanganj police arrested Md Abul Hashem, chairman of the group, his four sons -- Hashem Bin Hashem, Tareq Ibrahim, Tawsib Ibrahim and Tanjim Ibrahim-- and its CEO Shahan Sha Azad, DGM Mamunur Rashid and head of admin Salauddin in the connection with the tragic fire in the factory owned by the group that claimed the lives of 52 people so far.
Earlier, police filed a case with Rupganj police station against the eight people and many unknown others following the massive fire in the factory, said Superintendent of Police in the district Md Zaidul Alam.
Also read: Rupganj factory fire: Sajeeb Group chairman, 4 sons, CEO among 8 arrested
Group CEO Shahan Sha Azad was arrested from the company’s head office in the capital’s Farmgate area, while Chairman Hashem from his Gulshan residence, SP Alam said.
Home minister says none will be spared after police arrest eight people over factory fire
The government will not spare any one responsible for the devastating factory fire in Rupganj, Home Minister Asaduzzman Khan said on Saturday after announcing the arrest of eight people, including the owner of the enterprise, in this connection.
The home minister was talking to reporters after visiting the burnt Hashem Foods factory, a concern of Sajeeb Group, at Bhulta under Rupganj in Narayanganj.
Police said they arrested Md Abul Hashem, chairman of the group Sajeeb Group that owns the factory, his four sons -- Hashem Bin Hashem, Tareq Ibrahim, Tawsib Ibrahim and Tanjim Ibrahim-- and its CEO Shahan Sha Azad, DGM Mamunur Rashid and head of admin Salauddin.
The eight will be produced before court later in the day, said Superintendent of Police (Narayanganj) Md Zaidul Alam.
Also read: Rupganj factory fire: Sajeeb Group chairman, 4 sons, CEO among 8 arrested
“None will be spared if their negligence is proven behind the factory fire,” the home minster said.
So far 52 workers, some of them reportedly teen-aged boys and girls, were killed in the devastating fire that tore through the seven-story factory that produced foods and beverages such as juice, cold drinks, toast biscuits and laccha semai.
Trapped in a building with no fire exit and gates locked, workers were burned to a pulp
Fire fighters have still not managed to extinguish the fire in a seven-storey factory of Hashem Foods Ltd, a subsidiary of the Sajeeb Group, in Bhulta of Rupganj, more than 24 hours after it first broke out on Thursday evening. The confirmed death toll till filing of this report stands at 52, and is expected to rise.
As more details emerged of the catastrophe, it became clear that the workers were left with no chance in the face of the raging inferno, that has been further fuelled by combustible items such as ghee, butter, oil and polybags stored on each floor.
Even so, the workers may have had a chance at escape, if only the building code had been maintained to provide an emergency exit, or the management had not implemented the medieval practice of locking the gates of the factory floors, that carried undertones of the horrific Tazreen Garments fire in 2012 that killed at least 112.
Deputy Director of the Fire Service Debashish Bardhan confirmed to UNB that rescue workers had to literally break down the locked collapsible gate on the building's 4th floor to go in and recover the bodies. That is where they found 49 of the bodies, burnt to a pulp overnight on the factory floor.
None of the bodies were in a recognisable state. Narayanganj Additional Deputy Commissioner (Overall) Shamim Bepari said they would be handed over to their relatives after DNA testing to identify them. They have already been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy and DNA test.
Also read: Death toll from Rupganj factory fire jumps to 52
Death toll from Rupganj factory fire jumps to 52
The death toll from the factory fire at Rupganj, Narayanganj jumped to 52 as firefighters started tallying fatalities in the massive blaze.
“At least 49 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the building during the search operation,” said Abdullah Al Arefin, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Narayanganj district.
Earlier, 3 deaths from the accident were confirmed by the authorities of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and US Bangla Medical College and Hospital Rupganj.
With the fresh ones, the death toll from the fire touched 52, said the UNB correspondent in Narayanganj.
Read: 6 of family hurt in Chattogram as cylinder leak causes fire
The massive fire that swept through the six-storey building housing a juice factory of Hashem Foods Ltd at Bhulta Karnagop in Rupganj, Narayanganj broke out at 5 pm on Thursday.
Rupganj factory fire still raging; 3 killed
At least three people were killed and 25 others injured as a massive fire broke out at Shezan Juice Factory of Hashem Foods Ltd in Bhulta Karnagop area of Rupganj in Narayanganj on Thursday.
Immediately after the incident, two deceased were identified as factory workers Mina Akhter, 40, and Shapna Rani.
Later, another worker, Mursalin, 22, who jumped from the 3rd floor, succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) around 11pm.
The fire broke out at the 7-storey building around 5 pm Thursday, and 18 units of firefighters were still struggling to contain it, said duty officer of the fire service control room Kamrul Ahsan.
Also read: Moghbazar blast: Death toll climbs to 8, fire service confirms 3
Ten of the injured were sent to the DMCH and 16 admitted to Rupganj US Bangla Medical College and Hospital, said the hospital authorities.
Md Shahadat Hossain, a duty doctor of the US Bangla Medical College, confirmed the deaths of two workers.
Some of the injured admitted to the DMCH was identified as Nahid, 23, Monjurul Islam, 25, Mohasin Hossain, 32, Abu Bakar Siddique, 40, Amena Begum, 32, Fatema Akhter, 23, Mohasin, 27 and Mazeda, 28.
Bachchu Mia, inspector in-charge of DMCH police camp, said three of the injured were shifted to DMCH's Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute as they were having breathing problems caused by smoke.
Also read: 18 die in India chemical factory fire
Abu Bakar Siddique, one of the injured, said, “We sustained injuries as we jumped in a hurry to get out of the building.”
The number of injured and deceased may rise as seven to eight thousand workers were working inside the factory, he said.
Deputy Director of Narayanganj fire service Md Abdul Al Arefin said they heard that the fire broke out during a welding accident. “An investigation is needed to find out the reason to know actually what caused the fire", he said.