Ramit Mehrotra, Pune
At least three people are in police custody in involvement with the Dhaka building fire that claimed at least 46 people. The arrested people were identified as two owners of a restaurant called Chumuk and the manager of the Kacchi Bai restaurant. The fire broke out around 9:50 P.M. on Thursday at the restaurant ‘Kacchi Bai’, on the first floor of the building, named Green Cozy Cottage, and quickly spread to the upper floor of the complex and the garment shop on the top floor.
Police Commissioner Kh Mahid Uddin stated that the fire struck the food shop in the building on the ground floor. The police lodged a case over negligence of the fire at the complex. Additionally, anyone from the victim’s family is free to lodge a case against them. He urged everyone to follow the ‘safety first’ principle in the fire involving multiple people as a threat. He said strict legal action is imminent against whoever is found responsible for the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Haseena and President Mohammad Shahbuddin over the loss of property and grief of life.
Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha, the designer who built similar complexes around the city and the owner, said that the building didn’t have the authorisation to run restaurants. It wasn’t immune to any electrical mishaps. Despite permission denied, the building housed eight restaurants, a juice bar, a tea and a coffee shop. Ashraful Islam, Town Planner and Director of the Detailed Area Planning (DAP), project of Rajuk, said the approval for any commercial activity is only up to floor one to floor seven. Restaurants, showrooms, or any other commercial activity wasn’t okayed.
Despite the firefighters trying to save the building, the combustibles cost 46 lives, including 22 people being severely injured. Fire authorities speculated a gas leak or fire could have been the cause of the fire on Thursday, which caused chaos in the Biryani restaurant. The fire was brought down two hours later by 13 units of firefighters. The people who were in critical condition were instantly rushed to the hospital.
As per a government survey published by the Bangladeshi administration, Dhaka is one of the world’s most densely populated areas, and witnesses about five incidents of fire every day. These kinds of fires usually spark in densely populated areas such as busy markets or overcrowded complexes and factories. Issues such as faulty gas cylinders, air conditioners, and electrical wires of poor quality dominantly persist. Since 2013, devastating blazes have claimed more than 1,300 lives in Bangladesh.