Five dead in Dhaka shoe factory fire

At least five people have died after a fire swept through a shoe factory in Old Dhaka.

Rashed Bin Khalid, an officer of the Fire Service control room, said the fire broke out at the factory in the Kamal Bagh neighbourhood in Swarighat around 1:15 am on Friday.

Eight units of the Fire Service brought the fire under control in a two-hour effort.

Five people fatally injured in the blaze were taken to Mitford Hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

They were all workers of the factory, according to a hospital official.

Police did not disclose any details of the victims, but the families of two workers arrived at the morgue in the morning fearing the worst.

Two of the victims were later identified as Aminur Rahman, 30, and Shamim Miah, 35, by their loved ones.

The factory, owned by a man named Haji Rafiq, is used to make shoe soles.

The Fire Service could not immediately identify the cause of the fire.

Deputy Assistant Director Hafizur Rahman said Fire Service personnel thoroughly combed the factory but did not find any more bodies inside. Two of the injured have been admitted to the hospital.

A kitchen market is situated next to the factory and it, too, bore the brunt of the fire as most of the goods there were burnt down, according to the Fire Service.

‘Rahim’, who owns a meat shop at the market, said he was in the neighbourhood when the fire broke out. “I heard a loud noise and then suddenly the whole area was illuminated.”

“Then I ran away from the shop in fear and came to the street. Later, I saw the factory next to the market was burning. ”

Locals reported the incident to the Fire Service but the fire had already spread to the market next door by the time the responders reached the scene. While the shops and goods were burnt, no casualties were reported at the market.