United News of Bangladesh

Fire fighters have still not managed to extinguish the fire in a seven-storey factory of Hashem Foods Ltd, a subsidiary of the Sajeeb Group, in Bhulta of Rupganj, more than 24 hours after it first broke out on Thursday evening. The confirmed death toll till filing of this report stands at 52, and is expected to rise. As more details emerged of the catastrophe, it became clear that the workers were left with no chance in the face of the raging inferno, that has been further fuelled by combustible items such as ghee, butter, oil and polybags stored on each floor.   Even so, the workers may have had a chance at escape, if only the building code had been maintained to provide an emergency exit, or the management had not implemented the medieval practice of locking the gates of the factory floors, that carried undertones of the horrific Tazreen Garments fire in 2012 that killed at least 112. Deputy Director of the Fire Service Debashish Bardhan confirmed to UNB that rescue workers had to literally break down the locked collapsible gate on the building's 4th floor to go in and recover the bodies. That is where they found 49 of the bodies, burnt to a pulp overnight on the factory floor.   None of the bodies were in a recognisable state. Narayanganj Additional Deputy Commissioner (Overall) Shamim Bepari said they would be handed over to their relatives after DNA testing to identify them. They have already been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy and DNA test. Also read: Death toll from Rupganj factory fire jumps to 52  

The death toll from the factory fire at Rupganj, Narayanganj jumped to 52 as firefighters started tallying fatalities in the massive blaze. “At least 49 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the building during the search operation,” said Abdullah Al Arefin, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Narayanganj district. Earlier, 3 deaths from the accident were confirmed by the authorities of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and US Bangla Medical College and Hospital Rupganj. With the fresh ones, the death toll from the fire touched 52, said the UNB correspondent in Narayanganj. Read: 6 of family hurt in Chattogram as cylinder leak causes fire The massive fire that swept through the six-storey building housing a juice factory of Hashem Foods Ltd at Bhulta Karnagop in Rupganj, Narayanganj broke out at 5 pm on Thursday.

At least three people were killed and 25 others injured as a massive fire broke out at Shezan Juice Factory of Hashem Foods Ltd in Bhulta Karnagop area of Rupganj in Narayanganj on Thursday. Immediately after the incident, two deceased were identified as factory workers Mina Akhter, 40, and Shapna Rani. Later, another worker, Mursalin, 22, who jumped from the 3rd floor, succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) around 11pm. The fire broke out at the 7-storey building around 5 pm Thursday, and 18 units of firefighters were still struggling to contain it, said duty officer of the fire service control room Kamrul Ahsan. Also read: Moghbazar blast: Death toll climbs to 8, fire service confirms 3 Ten of the injured were sent to the DMCH and 16 admitted to Rupganj US Bangla Medical College and Hospital, said the hospital authorities. Md Shahadat Hossain, a duty doctor of the US Bangla Medical College, confirmed the deaths of two workers. Some of the injured admitted to the DMCH was identified as Nahid, 23, Monjurul Islam, 25, Mohasin Hossain, 32, Abu Bakar Siddique, 40, Amena Begum, 32, Fatema Akhter, 23, Mohasin, 27 and Mazeda, 28. Bachchu Mia, inspector in-charge of DMCH police camp, said three of the injured were shifted to DMCH's Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute as they were having breathing problems caused by smoke. Also read: 18 die in India chemical factory fire Abu Bakar Siddique, one of the injured, said, “We sustained injuries as we jumped in a hurry to get out of the building.” The number of injured and deceased may rise as seven to eight thousand workers were working inside the factory, he said. Deputy Director of Narayanganj fire service Md Abdul Al Arefin said they heard that the fire broke out during a welding accident. “An investigation is needed to find out the reason to know actually what caused the fire", he said.