A mass signature programme is held in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area demanding compensation for the families of the 71 victims of the devastating Chawkbazar fire.
According to a report published in this paper on February 24, an industries ministry probe committee has claimed that it found no evidence of a chemical factory or warehouse in the vicinity of the Chawkbazar fire.
Fire tragedies are frequent in Bangladesh and often cause high casualties, but no one has ever been punished for their role in any fire incidents.
As the call for relocating the warehouses of chemicals and inflammable goods from Old Dhaka gets louder, an industries ministry probe committee claimed that there was no chemical factory or warehouse at the scene of Wednesday's devastating fire in Chawkbazar.
Their family was a happy one -- mother and father with their two healthy children. On Wednesday night, the brutal fire that blazed through Chawkbazar reduced their perfect family of four to just one, while the rest looked on from behind a photo frame that managed to survive the hellish flames.
The death toll in the devastating blaze in Chawkbazar rose to 67 yesterday, making it the second deadliest chemical-fuelled fire in the country after the 2010 Nimtoli incident.
He was sitting against a wall about a hundred yards away from the Chawkbazar fire spot. Clad in soot-covered firefighters' overalls and with bloodshot eyes, he looked utterly exhausted. He seemed perplexed when The Daily Star correspondents asked his name.
In many major tragedies, the victims are reduced to mere numbers, statistics to gauge the severity of a disaster. But each of these numbers has an important story to tell, one that serves as a reminder of what has passed and why it should never have been allowed.
On the morning of the national holiday yesterday, many people woke up to find their Facebook friends “marking themselves safe from Chawkbazar fire”.
A mass signature programme is held in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area demanding compensation for the families of the 71 victims of the devastating Chawkbazar fire.
According to a report published in this paper on February 24, an industries ministry probe committee has claimed that it found no evidence of a chemical factory or warehouse in the vicinity of the Chawkbazar fire.
Fire tragedies are frequent in Bangladesh and often cause high casualties, but no one has ever been punished for their role in any fire incidents.
Their family was a happy one -- mother and father with their two healthy children. On Wednesday night, the brutal fire that blazed through Chawkbazar reduced their perfect family of four to just one, while the rest looked on from behind a photo frame that managed to survive the hellish flames.
As the call for relocating the warehouses of chemicals and inflammable goods from Old Dhaka gets louder, an industries ministry probe committee claimed that there was no chemical factory or warehouse at the scene of Wednesday's devastating fire in Chawkbazar.
Old Dhaka will remain vulnerable to disasters like the ones in Nimtoli and Chawkbazar unless it undergoes redevelopment, say urban planners.
The government is yet to respond to the High Court rule and directives over the Nimtoli fire in Old Dhaka that killed 124 people and injured many others on June 3, 2010, said the lawyer who filed a writ petition in this regard.
On the morning of the national holiday yesterday, many people woke up to find their Facebook friends “marking themselves safe from Chawkbazar fire”.
In many major tragedies, the victims are reduced to mere numbers, statistics to gauge the severity of a disaster. But each of these numbers has an important story to tell, one that serves as a reminder of what has passed and why it should never have been allowed.
He was sitting against a wall about a hundred yards away from the Chawkbazar fire spot. Clad in soot-covered firefighters' overalls and with bloodshot eyes, he looked utterly exhausted. He seemed perplexed when The Daily Star correspondents asked his name.
