Dhaka: The Bangladesh police arrested three people, including two women in connection to the devastating fire that killed 44 people in Dhaka, late Thursday. A fire broke out at a shopping mall in the capital Dhaka and left the six-storey building in complete shambles. The fire broke out around  9:50 pm (local time) on Thursday at the restaurant named “Kacchi Bhai” on the first floor of the building, Green Cozy Cottage and caused heavy devastation. 

On Friday, the authorities arrested two owners of an eatery called Chumuk along with the manager of Kacchi Bhai. The arrest was confirmed by Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner Kh Mahid Uddin. “The fire started from the food shop on the ground floor of the building. The police will file a case over negligence in connection with the deaths in the fire incident,” the police official said at a local press briefing. Besides, he also mentioned that the families of the victims can file separate cases in this matter.  Overall, the authorities assured that legal actions will be taken against those who are found responsible for the tragic incident. He mentioned that three people who were arrested are now being interrogated. Another important piece of information the authorities discovered while investigating the matter is the fact that the building did not have permission to house restaurants. 

The building was only permitted to house office 

The authorities discovered that the building only had permission for office use, not restaurants and eateries. However, the six-story construction was housing eight restaurants a juice bar and a tea and coffee shop. In light of this, Ashraful Islam, Town Planner and Director of the Detailed Area Planning (DAP) project also confirmed that There was no approval for restaurants, showrooms or anything else. The approvals were only given approval of office use 

The building where the fire ripped through houses mainly restaurants along with several clothing and mobile phone shops. “We were on the sixth floor when we first saw smoke racing through the staircase. A lot of people rushed upstairs. We used a water pipe to climb down the building. Some of us were injured as they jumped from upstairs,” a restaurant manager named Sohel told the local reporters. Fires in apartment buildings and factory complexes are common in Bangladesh. One of the major reasons for this is the country's lax enforcement of safety rules. In July 2021, at least 52 people including several children were killed when a fire swept through a food processing factory.

(With inputs from PTI)