Shirin Bhaban: City corporation declares explosion-hit Dhaka building ‘risky’

Police, not the fire service, are investigating the incident

Dhaka South City Corporation has declared risky Shirin Bhaban, the building on Mirpur Road, which partially collapsed after an explosion, as the shopkeepers in the area have yet to recover from the shock.

Abdul Al Mamun, the owner of New Model Laundry on the first floor of the building, said he was on his way when the explosion occurred on Sunday morning.

“I don’t know where to move as the building has been declared risky,” Mamun said on Monday. He used to pay Tk 9,000 per month for the shop.

The explosion at the three-storey building near the Science Lab crossing left at least three people dead and 30 others injured.

Abdur Razzak, a shopkeeper at Mehedi Punjabi Ghar, one of the eight clothing stores on the ground floor of the building, said his colleague suffered minor injuries as he was in the toilet on the first floor.

Razzak was on the street where parts of the building collapsed, but he survived.

“We don’t know what the authorities will decide on the recovery of products from the shops,” Razzak said, as barricades surrounding the building and blood on the street remained on Monday.

Suraiya Bhaban, next to Shirin Bhaban, was also damaged in the explosion. Two residents of Suraiya Bhaban were injured when a wall of a second-floor flat collapsed. The building’s gas connection was also damaged.

Shahjahan Molla, a spokesman for the Fire Service and Civil Defence said they were not investigating the incident as the fire that erupted after the blast was minor.

A team of experts from the Bangladesh Army found no evidence of explosives.

“We are the members of a bomb disposal unit of the Bangladesh Army. We have initially conducted the operation using explosive detection tools, but the test results yielded no such evidence,” said Major Md Kaiser Bari.

“As we found no use of explosives in the incident, we will disclose the actual reason behind the explosion after further investigations.”

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Khandaker Golam Faruq on Sunday said the blast might be an accident.

Some officers suspect an air-conditioner on the second floor of the building exploded.

Md Shahidullah, a deputy commissioner at DMP, said the law enforcers had filed a general diary and are conducting further investigation to discover the cause of the building blast.

“The case will be filed accordingly after the cause of the blast is found in the investigation. It’s not possible to put it under any section right now,” he said when asked why only a GD is filed over the incident.

“We will launch further investigations if the families of the victims' file cases,” he added.