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Family of Old Dhaka fire victim files case for ‘death caused by negligence’
A case for causing death by negligence has been filed over the massive fire that claimed at least 67 lives in Old Dhaka.
Published : 22 Feb 2019, 06:59 AM
Updated : 22 Feb 2019, 09:28 AM
A relative of Arafat Islam Siyam, a 19-year-old who burnt to death, filed the case with the Chawkbazar Police Station on Friday.
The case filed under the Penal Code accuses the two sons of Hazi Abdul Wahed, who owned one of the five buildings damaged by the fire, and 10-12 unnamed individuals, said Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, Lalbagh Deputy Commissioner of police.
Chemicals stored in ‘Wahed Mansion’ had spread the fire started by an explosion of a gas cylinder on a parked pickup truck. The blaze ripped through the neighbourhood of Chowkbazar, a crowded area of commercial and residential units.
It took 14 hours and 37 fire-fighting units to douse the flame that had engulfed the crowded neighbourhood. Rescuers recovered 67 dead bodies from the ruins.
The bodies were sent to the morgue at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Wahed Mansion, which suffered the worst damage in the fire, housed a dozen of shops on the ground floor. On the second storey, there were warehouses for toiletries and plastic materials. The upper two floors were residential units.
Rescuers found 24 bodies from that building alone, which included a two-year-old child and a woman. The bodies were mangled together in heap at the bottom of the building's only staircase.
The case was filed under sections of 304 (A), 436, 427 and 34 for death by negligence, sabotage and damage of goods, said Deputy Police Commissioner Ibrahim Khan.
In prior to that, police filed another case over ‘unnatural deaths’ with the Chawkbazar Police Station on Thursday night.
The DMCH Forensic Department handed over 46 bodies to their loved ones as of Friday morning, while 21 more bodies remain at the morgue.
Among the nine admitted to the burn unit of the hospital, six were in critical condition, according to the doctors.
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