Gazipur factory fire under control after top three floors collapse

Three top floors of a seven-storey Gazipur textile factory collapsed, its steel structure melting in the heat of a furious fire, on Monday.

The fire petered off after the collapse of the three top floors, fire fighters said. 
 
“But smoke was still billowing out from different parts of the factory until Monday morning. Fire-fighters are working to control the devastating fire completely,” said Gazipur Fire Service Deputy Director Akataruzzaman Liton.
 
The fire, which broke out on Sunday afternoon and raged on for almost 14 hours, seemed to peter out  after the top three floors of the factory building collapsed around 4am on Monday, Liton said.
 
The factory of Dignity Textile Mills at Sreepur Upazila, was engulfed by the fire around 2pm on Sunday.
 
It started from the second floor of the factory warehouse and spread to the fourth floor immediately.
 
Fourteen fire-fighting units from Dhaka, Joydebpur, Sreepur and Mymensingh’s Bhaluka rushed to the factory to tame the fire.
 
But they found it difficult to control it as the steel-structure building had turned red hot.
 
Fire fighters also failed to pump in enough water since the structure did not have enough windows or doors.
 

“This is our first experience of fighting fire in a fully metal structure this high,” fire services official Liton told bdnews24.com early on Monday.
 
Fire fighters gave up on taming the blaze around 1:30am. That is after the steel sheets of the outer walls started falling off, forcing them to stay at a safe distance.
 
The fire petered out on its own, when the steel-structure melted and the top three floors collapsed around 4am.
 
Fire service officials are yet to report any casualties.  Around 3,000 workers and employees worked at the factory.

The factory management claimed that most workers and officials were not in the building as the fire broke out during lunch-break.
 
An inquiry has been started over the fire. A five-member body headed by Sreepur Upazila administration chief has been asked to file its findings within five working days.