Five members of a family were killed and two others injured after a fire broke out at an illegal chemical warehouse following an explosion at Keraniganj on the outskirts of the capital on Tuesday, laying bare the failure of the authorities to stop the operation of such storehouses haphazardly.

The deceased were identified as Sohagh Mia, 28, his wife Mina Akhter, 22, their daughter Tayeba, 2, Sohagh’s sister-in-law (brother’s wife) Jesmin Ratri, 30, and Jesmin’s daughter Isa Akhter, 13.

Of them, Mina, Tayeba and Isa died on the spot while Sohagh and Jesmin succumbed to their injuries at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (SHNIBPS).

Of the injured, the condition of Roza Moni, Sohagh’s daughter, was stated to be critical as she suffered burns on 50 percent of her body while injured Sayeed was released from the hospital after first aid.

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD), the fire broke out at the tin-shed storehouse at Kalandi Godarbagh around 3:00am following an explosion.

Being informed, six units of firefighters were dispatched to the spot, said Shajahan Shikder, in-charge of the media cell at the FSCD.

They brought the blaze under control around 6:17am and completely doused it at 10:50am, he said.

Later, three charred bodies were recovered from the house while four injured were rushed to the institute.

Tariqul Islam, resident surgeon at the SHNIBPS, said four burn victims were brought to their hospital where Jesmin and Sohagh died later.

The district administration of Dhaka formed a five-member probe committee with additional district magistrate (ADM) as its head to look into the incident.

Kajol Mia, in-charge of Keraniganj Fire Station, said that the victims used to live in two rooms of the tin-shed house. They took care of the storehouse on another room owned by Chawkbazar trader Tutul Hajji.

The officer said locals heard a big bang and soon the warehouse went up in flames engulfing the adjacent rooms.

The probe committee will unearth the reason behind the blast and fire, he said.

The officer said: “There was another chemical storehouse adjacent to the burned one. Had the fire engulfed the nearby one, the situation would have been more dangerous.”

 “We’ve heard that there’re more such illegal storehouses in the area,” he said.

When asked about the illegal warehouse that caught fire, M Faisal Bin Karim, upazila nirbahi officer of Keraniganj, said that they were unaware of the matter.

 “As we’ve come to know about the storehouse, we’ll take action against its owner,” he said, adding: “We’ll take action if we find any other such storehouse in Keraniganj.” 

The officer-in-charge and inspector (investigation) of Keraniganj Model Police Station could not be contacted despite several attempts.

Duty officer of the police station Amena Akhter said that the process was under to file a case in connection with the incident.

BDST: 0858 HRS, AUG 16, 2023
SMS