Trapped in flames; help never came

“We are trapped by the flames. We can’t go downstairs. Please help!” These were the words of Uttam Kumar Das as he called his cousin Ranajit after the fire broke out at an electric fan factory in Gazipur Sunday afternoon.

A few minutes later, Uttam’s mother and other family members frantically tried to call him, but his phone was unreachable.

“My son was charred to death while being trapped by the fire. He could have saved his life if there was a way to escape,” Uttam’s mother Meena Rani Das wailed at her home in Keshorita area of the city yesterday.

Firefighters recovered the charred bodies of Uttam and nine others after they doused the fire on the top floor of the three-storey Luxury Smart Energy Saving Fan factory. The building was not meant for industrial use.

Twenty-six-year-old Uttam fed his parents with his meagre salary. He was the breadwinner of the family as his father was paralysed and mother unemployed.  

The factory had no clearance from the Department of Environment. There was only one stairwell and one gate. The factory had been running illegally for three years in Keshorita, a residential area, locals and firefighters said.

Jakaria Khan, station officer of Joydebpur Fire Station, said the fire originated near the only door on the 2nd floor. The roof and walls on the floor were made of corrugated iron sheets.

Mamunur Rashid, deputy assistant director of fire service, said the factory had no fire safety clearance and lacked fire safety measures.

Farid Ahmed, joint inspector general (safety) at Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, said the owners didn’t even apply for permission before establishing the factory.

His department would file a case with the labour court and take steps to make the owners properly compensate the victims’ families.

Meanwhile, Kamal Hossain, father of another victim, filed a murder case with Joydebpur Police Station accusing five owners and a manager of the factory, said Jabedul Islam, officer-in-charge of the police station.

In the case statement, he wrote that the accused, despite being aware of the risks, employed the workers in the unauthorised factory and thus, killed them, police said.

Workers and locals alleged that the factory management used to lock every floor as well as the main gate of the building during work hours in the name of preventing theft.

The authorities also frisked every worker before they left, they added.

AKM Zahirul Islam, additional superintendent of police in Gazipur, said, “We heard allegations from the victims’ families that the doors of the factory were locked… We are dealing with the matter with due diligence.”

Photo: Abu Bakar Siddique Akand

The owners had fled after the incident, police said.

In a similar fire on Wednesday at a plastic factory in Keraniganj, 19 workers died and 13 others are still fighting for life.

Survivors and firefighters said the workers could not evacuate on time as there was only one gate.

At the Gazipur factory, around 100 workers were at the building on Sunday. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

The 10 charred bodies found in the factory were identified as Uttam, Tarikul Islam, Parvez, Mohammad Limon, Faisal Khan, Shamim, Faridul Islam, Rashed, Sazal Mia and Yusuf Mia.

Five of them were from Gazipur district. They were the breadwinners of their families.

Like Uttam, Faisal also called his friend Tanvir and asked him for help.

“Friend, I am dying. I am trapped,” Tanvir quoted Faisal as saying over the phone.

Faisal’s sister Konika said, “We knew that the workers were locked. Despite this, my brother and others worked there because there are no other factories nearby.”

As the Daily Star visited Faisal’s home in Kalni village, locals were seen trying to console his father Saiful Islam.

“My son went to the factory to take his salary. He had plans to join a bicycle rally with his friends on the Victory Day,” Saiful said before he lost consciousness.

Another victim Shamim had a 10-month old girl. His wife is unemployed.

The families demanded proper compensation for their loses. Locals demonstrated yesterday for immediate removal of the factory.

The bodies were handed to the families after DNA verification yesterday, said Gazipur Deputy Commissioner SM Tarikul Islam.