Police on Wednesday pressed charges against eight people including two building owners in a case filed over the devastating fire incident on February 20, 2019  that killed at least 71 people. Abdul Kaiyum, officer-in-charge of Chawkbazar Police Station and also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the chargesheet before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Tariqul Islam on Tuesday. Read: Chawkbazar fire: Wahed Mansion owner’s sons remanded The court fixed March 23 for hearing on the charge framing in the case. The chargesheeted accused are-owners of Wahed Mension  Mohammad Hasan Sultan and his brother Hossain Sultan, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mozammel Iqbal, Mozaffar Uddin, Mohammad Jawad Atique, Md Nabil and Mohammad Kashif. A total of 71 people were killed and dozens others were injured in the fire that broke out at Wahed Mansion in Churihatta of Dhaka’s Chawkbazar and raged through four other adjacent buildings in Chawkbazar on February 20, 2019. Two cases were filed in this connection. Read: Chawkbazar fire: Wahed Mansion owner’s 2 sons sent to jail A local resident filed a case against the owners of the building with Chawkbazar model police station. According to the case, the building owners rented out different floors of their four storeyed building as storehouse of flammable substances.

A fire that broke out in a six-storey building in Old Dhaka's Chawkbazar on Tuesday has been doused. It took nine units of fire fighters two hours and a quarter to completely douse the fire,  that originated in a warehouse for plastic goods on the third floor of the building around 4:30 pm. Although no casualties have been reported, it once again exposed the vulnerabilities resulting from warehouses storing flammable items being located in an otherwise residential area, a frequent cause of fires in the area.  An estimate of losses and the reason behind the fire can only be determined through an investigation, said Ershad Hossain, duty officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters control room.

The world is set to welcome the New Year with a hope for a better future. The outgoing year, 2019, will be remembered for both good and bad incidents. This year, Bangladesh witnessed increasing deaths thanks to dengue outbreak, frequent fire and other accidents.     Dengue Outbreak