Heroes that emerged from the ashes

If jumping to conclusions was an Olympic sport, our country would have won a few gold medals in it by now. As the entire country mourned the loss of 25 souls (official death toll as of writing this article) from the tragic fire at Banani's FR tower yesterday, some took the opportunity to harshly criticise the overly-enthusiastic onlookers, who supposedly hindered the authorities and fire-fighting services.

Amidst the constant tug-of-war of criticism and counter-criticism on social media, students from South East University, American International University, Primeasia University, Banani Bidyaniketan School, among other neighbouring institutions, stepped in to help mitigate the disaster to the fullest of their capabilities.

As the students formed human chains to keep out further hindrances, their selflessness seemed inspiring, heroic even. The efforts of 25 fire service units, along with members of the navy, army and air force, were beautifully personified by 5th grader Nayeem Islam, who sat on a leaked hosepipe to ensure that the water does not flow out. The viral image brought forth an air of much needed hope in a day that brought anguish in flames.

Students form a human chain around the diaster-struck area. Photo by Tamim Khan

However, that is not to imply that the general populi of nosy live-streamers at the scene should be granted indemnity from the nuisance they created there in the first place. Needless to say, social media is an open-ended platform, where information is welcome. Repeatedly uploaded scenes of people helplessly jumping out from a 22 storied building is not information, it is attention-seeking at its most grotesque.

In spite of all these, the question remains: should our anger be directed towards the misinformed public, who simply happened to be near the incident when it broke out? Are we failing to focus on the constant lapses by the authorities, who inform us that the building was not built according to the standards of RAJUK, only a day after one of the worst fires in the tri-state area? In a survey conducted by the fire service centers in the city, 2651 buildings among 3500 markets, schools, hospitals, banks, chemical warehouses and hotels were deemed risky by the Bangladesh Fire Service Department, many of which did not even meet the basic criteria of fire safety. Is the 'nosy' public to be blamed for them as well?

Nayeem Islam, the young hero who helped firemen by sitting on a leaked pipe.

Amongst all these debates, the most earnest gratitude is in order for the heroes in uniform, who did their best, despite the lack of proper equipment to combat this level of tragedy. The heroes without uniform, who took responsibility of the incident and showed us that the collective spirit and willpower of young blood trumps all, no matter how 'self-occupied' and 'uninvolved' we may accuse them to be. Amidst a dark and tragic day for Dhaka City, where individuals on social media jumped to conclusions about an entire group of people present at the scene, these were the heroes that emerged from the ashes.