1 dead, 10 injured as fire guts residential building in Dhaka's Gulshan

Several people jumped off the 12-storey building

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Feb 2023, 04:03 PM
Updated : 19 Feb 2023, 04:03 PM

At least one person has died and 10 others have been injured in a fire that burnt a residential building at Gulshan in Dhaka for nearly four hours, forcing some of the residents to jump off.

As many as 114 firefighters from 19 units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence battled the blaze that broke out on the sixth floor of the 12-storey building on road No. 104 of Gulshan-2 around 7pm on Sunday, said Khaleda Yasmin, an official at the fire service control room.

They rescued 22 people, including a child. Two firefighting units of the Bangladesh Air Force joined in. The Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate said army personnel were deployed to assist in the rescue work.

No one was found in the building in a search operation after the blaze was tamed around 11pm, said Brig Gen Md Main Uddin, director general of the fire service.

The fire service primarily suspects the fire originated from a short circuit in the lift, he said.

Many members of the families in the six duplex flats of the building were trapped after the fire broke out and some of them jumped off from the balconies to survive.

Shirin, a domestic help who worked for the family on the eighth floor, said the elderly landlady fell unconscious during the incident.

“I held her when the fire service personnel took her down. But I couldn't find her after getting down.”

Fahim Sinha, a director of Acme Group and Bangladesh Cricket Board, and his family live on the two top floors. Their domestic helps Rina and Alo said they along with five others left the building just after the fire broke out.

Rina said Fahim’s wife Shama Rahman and two others were still inside the building.

Shama is also a director of the group, its employees said at Sikder Medical College Hospital, where Shama was rushed to.

They said Shama jumped off the 12th-floor balcony into a swimming pool on the fire floor.

Subrata Saha, chief medical administrator at the hospital, said Shama had burns on her body and was transferred to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

She was among 13 victims of the incident who were taken to the private hospital first. Subrata said eight of the injured were admitted.

They included Abdul Noor, Kohinoor, Hridi, Riya, Rahela Hossain and Selina Akter. Hridi, a 4-year-old girl, had burns.

The rescuers took the body of a victim, a man believed to be around 30 years old, to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Inspector Bachchu Mia at the hospital’s police camp. The victim had died after jumping off the building, he said.

It was not clear how the fire spread so fast even though the first responders reached the scene 11 minutes after being informed.

Fire service personnel believe the wood used for the decoration of the building in the upscale area fuelled the fire.

Anwarul Islam, a spokesman for the fire service, said the firefighters found it difficult to reach the affected part of the building due to its position. They sprayed water on the blaze from near the next building.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam visited the scene and also said the firefighters faced trouble in dousing the flames due to the building’s position.

Fire service chief Main Uddin said crowds hampered the rescue effort.

He said the authorities focussed on the rescue effort and would investigate whether the building had a proper fire safety system.