Gazipur factory fire kills 5

At least five persons, including a woman, were killed in a fire which might have originated from boiler explosions at a factory of Pubail under Tongi in Gazipur yesterday.

Two of them were so badly burnt that their identities could not be known immediately.

The three others are Siddiqa Jebunnesa, 40, a primary school teacher who was passing by the factory when the blaze started, and workers Mohammad Selim, 45, son of Abdul Mannan of nearby Basugaon village, and Kawsar Hossain, 40, son of Abdur Razzak of Madaripur district.

Two seriously injured workers, Abdul Kadir, 65, and Kamal Hossain, 50, were being treated at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital last night. They suffered nearly 100 percent burns, Dr Partha Shankar Paul. 

Bazlur Rahman, ward-41 councillor of Gazipur City Corporation, claimed owner Iman Uddin had been running the factory for four              to five years illegally despite                  warnings from city corporation officials.

Iman went into hiding following the incident, he said.

While visiting the spot around 8:30pm, local lawmaker Meher Afroz Chumki said the administration has to take action after identifying this type of factories, reports our Gazipur correspondent. 

Contacted, Gazipur Superintendent of Police Harun-ur-Rashid too said the factory was illegal and they were preparing to file a case against its owner.

Locals and fire service sources said the factory, Smart Metal and Chemical, produced a “liquid substance” used for road carpeting by burning expired tyres.

The tin-roofed one-storey factory had no boundary walls, added fire service sources.

According to witnesses, a boiler exploded with a huge bang around 4:00pm, causing the fire. About 30 workers were at the factory then and most of them rushed outside to save their lives.

Jebunnesa, an assistant teacher of Baroibari Government Primary School, was walking along the road at the time of the blast. As the factory is right beside the road, the fire could reach her and burned her to death on the spot, said Hasibur Rahman, station officer at Joydevpur Fire Service.

A little while after the first explosion, two more boilers exploded, said locals.

It took about one and a half hours' effort by six fire engines of Gazipur and Tongi fire stations to douse the flames.

Deputy Assistant Director Aktaruzzaman of Gazipur Fire Service said they recovered five bodies from the spot. He added the fire might have been originated from boiler explosions.

Police said the bodies were kept at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital in Gazipur.

The injured workers, Kadir and Kamal, were first rushed to the Gazipur hospital. They were sent to the DMCH burn unit in the evening, said Khandaker Rezaul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Joydevpur Police Station.