Bangladesh: 10 burnt to death in second factory fire within a week

About 10 people were reported dead in a factory fire outside of Dhaka on December 15, informed Bangladesh officials. The incident is the second industrial blaze in a week claiming several lives in Bangladesh. On Sunday evening, fires spread across a small fan factory in the Gazipur industrial district. Firefighters reportedly tried to extinguish the blaze for about two-and-a-half-hour battle and finally managed to douse it off.

Fire service spokesman Zillur Rahman told the media that they recovered 10 bodies and still looking for more victims. It is yet to be ascertained how many people were present in the building at the time of the accident. Investigative authorities have not been able to trace the source of the fire.

Read: PM Modi Hails Indian Military's Contribution To Bangladeshi Liberation War On Vijay Diwas

13 burnt to death in Dhaka Factory

The incident occurred just about 4 days after a fire accident in a plastic factory in Dhaka claimed 13 lives. At least 35 were critically injured in the incident which occurred on the ground floor of the Prime Patent Plastic factory at Keraniganj, just southwest of Dhaka.

Local police chief Shah Zaman told the media that the factory was operating illegally. He added that scores of firefighters battled for three hours to bring the fire under control. One of the survivors, Zakir Hossain, told local media that nearly 150 people had been working at the factory when the fire broke out. Around 300 people worked in two shifts in the factory. 

Read: 2 Bangladeshi Women Get 10 Months Of Rigorous Imprisonment For Illegal Stay

Industrial fires common in winters

Industrial fires are common in the dry winter season, due to lax enforcement of safety codes in Bangladesh. A blaze in a historic Mughal building in an old part of Dhaka killed at least 70 people and injured dozens back in February 2019. At least 111 people died after a fire at a garment factory making apparel for Western retailers, in 2012. Bangladesh suffered the worst industrial tragedy in 2013 when the Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed in Savar on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, killing 1,135 people.

Read: 2005 V 2019: What Changed Mamata's Stand On 'disastrous' Bangladeshi Infiltration?

Read: BJP Leader Babul Supriyo Reacts Over Mamata Bannerjee’s Take On Bangladeshi Infiltrators