Photo : Collected
The tragic fire incident which engulfed the entire building at Bailey Road, in the heart of the capital Dhaka is not acceptable. The towering inferno killed nearly 46 and a dozen are fighting for their lives in the hospitals.
The lives of scores of people in the commercial building have been jeopardised and lives lost and also those battling in hospitals after the blazing fire. Most died from inhaling deadly carbon monoxide, which is fatal and can die in a few minutes.
A massive fire ripped through a seven-storey building. The fire started from the ground floor, according to video footage posted on social media. Instead of helping people to evacuate and doze the fire, most pedestrians and passersby are busy making video shoots.
Bailey Road was overcrowded with enthusiasts on February 29 to celebrate the Leap Year. All the eateries and food outlets offered discounts on the occasion of Leap Year were packed with revellers.
While returning home from the Ekushey Book Fair, Poppy Poddar with her two children craved to eat Biryani and all were roasted alive.
The dreams of a family came crumbling down. For Syed Mobarak Hossain, everything was falling into place after years of struggle. The dream of the 48-year-old Bangladeshi expatriate in Italy was about to come true.
He was finally taking his family—three children and wife - with him to immigrate to Italy. But tragedy befell 18 days before they were scheduled to fly out.
The entire family went to a restaurant to celebrate the departure on the Leap Year and they were roasted to death.
The inferno killed husbands, wives, children, journalists, businesspeople, students and staff of the eateries.
The fire at Bailey Road joins a long list of fire incidents, including the tragedies of Sitakunda, Gulshan, Tazreen Fashion, Narayanganj Juice Factory and Chawkbazar. It appears that the security measures in place during a fire outbreak are largely ineffective—why asked Dr Rakib Al Hasan in an opinion article in business daily.
Despite several warnings by the fire services, the owner of the building ignored the notices.
Survivors alleged that there was no emergency exit in the seven-storey building on Bailey Road.
Those who considers as fortunate to be alive said there was no way to escape the inferno as there was no firefighting equipment in the building.
The Department of Fire Services and Civil Defence blaming the owner for ignoring the notices was not enough.
The department did not ensure the implementation of the notices, the blame also has to be equally shared by the fire services bosses.
There are allegations that the department responsible for inspecting the building for fire safety and other guidelines were given safety certificates.
Messenger/Fameema
