BSEC Bhaban burns again

Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) building in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar has suffered another major fire, seven years after the first one had caused billions of takas worth damage.

Over 100 fire-fighters, however, brought the fire under control two hours after it broke out on the 10-storey building's top floor on Friday morning.

Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan could not say how the fire started. But he said there were no casualties.

The building houses offices of about 30 organisations including two private TV channels Ntv and Rtv and newspaper Daily Amar Desh.

Daily-turned-online newspaper Amar Desh’s offices are on the top floor where the fire originated, according to witnesses.

Amar Desh employees said the incident took place when they were shifting offices. Nearly everything in their office was gutted in the fire.

Two committees were formed by the BSEC and the Fire Service to probe incident.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had visited the scene.

Meanwhile, the BNP dubbed the fire a 'sabotage planned by the government' and demanded punishment for those involved in the 'sabotage'.

Photo: asif mahmud ove/ bdnews24.com

Photo: Liton Haider

On Feb 26, 2007, three people were killed and 10 offices, including those of the Ntv, Rtv and Amar Desh, destroyed in a fire in the BSEC Bhaban.

After the fire broke out around 11:48am Friday, 19 fire-fighting units rushed to the scene and started fire fighting.

Smoke was belching out of the building's top floor as the fire-fighters tried hard to put out the flames.

In the meantime, employees of the offices housed in the building were evacuated through stairs on the building's north side.

The Fire Service director general said the fire was brought under control around 1:56pm. But the flames were completely doused in the afternoon.

'Bablu', an employee of a law farm on the ninth floor, said they had heard a noise that sounded like an electric short-circuit.

"Then the security guard of Amar Desh came and told us to vacate the building seeing smokes," he told bdnews24.com.

bdnews24.com photojournalist Asif Mahmud Ove had said the scene was chaotic.

The smouldering fire on the building's 10th floor had caused a huge cloud of smoke and firemen were spraying water and foam to douse the blaze, he said.

Fireman Abul Hossain said around 12pm he had tried to use a stair on the north side of the building but could not due to thick smoke.

Most of the organisations were shut as it was weekend but media persons were at their offices. They got out soon after the fire spread.

One of the news editors of Rtv, Akter Hossain said their office was located on the fifth floor. Ntv occupies the building's seventh to ninth floors while Amar Desh is housed on the 10th floor.

Ntv also has its earth-stations in two tin-shed transmission rooms on the roof.

Chief news editors of Ntv and Rtv – Zahirul Alam and Anowar Haq respectively – said their channels went off the air around noon after the power connections were cut following the fire.

However, Ntv resumed its transmission after five hours through alternative means while it took nearly eight hours for Rtv to recommence telecast.

Amar Desh employee Mahmuda Doli told bdnews24.com that their newspaper's print edition was shut down, but their online edition was operational.

Photo: Liton Haider

Photo: asif mahmud ove/ bdnews24.com

She said they were supposed to shift their office to a building at the capital's Niketon on Friday morning.

"The fire broke out after the shifting began. Our newsroom was empty because of the shifting. The incident (fire) seems mysterious," she said.

Amar Desh Executive Editor Syed Abdal Ahmed also echoed her suspicion.

He told bdnews24.com: "This was not any simple fire. There is a mystery behind it. The fire has destroyed all the old documents, our archives and computers."

Ntv Chairman and Managing Director Mosaddak Ali Falu, who rushed to the scene after hearing about the fire, said he suffered losses each time the building caught fire.

Former BNP MP Falu is also the former owner of both Rtv and Amar Desh.

He told reporters, "They (fire incidents) are investigated but no report is ever filed. The findings are never made public.

"It's necessary to know why fire is recurrent in this building."

Rtv's Special Correspondent Shameema Akter said they had learnt that the fire originated from a warehouse of Amar Desh on the top floor.

"The fire was first spotted at the storage on the top floor's northeast corner," she said. "However, all of us got down safely."

Amar Desh's Office Assistant Abbas Ali Hawlader said they were busy shifting stuffs from their offices.

"A spark was noticed at the store room but it was locked," he said.

He said the man who had the keys was immediately called and they initially tried to put out the fire by themselves. Fire service was called afterwards, leading to the evacuation from the building.

"All of us on the top floor moved out. I was the last one to get out. I don't think anyone else was left behind," he said.

Around 1:25pm, Fire Service Director (Operations) Mohammad Mahbub said they had brought the fire under control.

"The store room had a large quantity of paper-like flammable stuff. That's why it took us so long," he said.

Later around 1:56pm, Fire Service DG Khan said the fire was completely doused. He said he had visited the top floor and did not find anyone trapped or saw any casualties.

Around 5:30pm, fire-fighters left the premises handing over the building's responsibility to BSEC Secretary Masud Ahmed.

A visit to the top floor showed that the fire had completely gutted everything there.

bdnews24.com Correspondent Mobarak Hossain from the scene said condition of the store room, from where the fire originated, was very bad and things inside were charred beyond recognition.

BSEC official Ahmed said they were yet to ascertain the extent of damage.

Meanwhile, a five-member committee, headed by BSEC Director (Finance) Syed Mozammel Haq, was formed, to find the cause of the fire said BSEC Chairman Mohammad Imtiaz.

He said it was asked to submit its findings within 10 days.

Fire Service also formed another five-member strong probe team, led by Deputy Director Sheikh Mizanur Rahman, said Fire Service official Farhad Jaman.

The committee was told to submit its report as soon as possible, he added.

DG Ali Ahmed Khan said they would be able to determine how the fire broke out after the investigation.

Industries Minister Amu reached the scene when fire-fighters were still trying to control the flames.

Asked about the report of the 2007 fire's investigation committee, the minister said, "I can’t say anything now. Btu I'll look into it."

The state minister for home visited the spot in the afternoon.

When his attention was drawn to the BNP's allegation that the incident was an 'act of sabotage', Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, "We'll investigate whether there was any negligence on the part of Amar Desh as it’s a private organisation."

"Probe teams are on job. We'll know everything about the fire soon."