Shawdesh desk:

Students, an expatriate Bangladeshi, a teacher, a journalist, and children were among the 46 people killed as a devastating fire razed an eight-storey building that housed several restaurants in the capital’s popular Bailey Road on Thursday night.

A pall of gloom descended on Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery premises in the early hours of Friday as relatives and friends rushed there in search of their near and dear ones who went missing following the incident.

The Dhaka district authorities said that families had identified 43 out of the 46 deceased killed in the building named Green Cozy Cottage, which, apart from housing about a dozen restaurants, was also home to several clothing and mobile phone shops and residential apartments.

The blaze is believed to have broken out at a coffee shop called Chumuk on the ground floor of the building about 9.45pm and spread to other floors in quick time, leaving little time for the victims to come out.

Witnesses said that soon after the fire broke out, an explosion occurred causing a huge flame that blocked the only staircase when several hundred people were enjoying dinners at restaurants offering discounts on leap year on February 29.

Thirteen fire-fighting units were joined by police and other forces to bring the fire under control in about two hours of effort.

The firefighters could pull out at least 75 people alive while also recovering three bodies from the spot and 42 people in unconscious condition, most of whom were declared dead later after being taken to hospitals.

Authorities said that only a handful of victims had burn injuries, while most of the victims were suffocated to death at the building for commercial and residential use due to its poor ventilation system.

‘Most of the victims died or were injured due to carbon monoxide poisoning. When one cannot go out [in such a situation], smoke enters their throat. This is what happened to everyone. Those who suffered the most, unfortunately, could not survive. Those who are still alive are not out of danger,’ health minister Samanta Lal Sen said while briefing reporters in the afternoon.

The fire burned Kachchi Bhai restaurant on the first floor into ashes while also seriously damaging other floors of the building, which, according to officials, had only one staircase and hardly any fire safety kits.

Police arrested two staff members from Chumuk cafe and the manager of Kacchi Bhai restaurant on charges of causing deaths due to negligence, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional commissioner Kh Mahid.

The victims included five family members of Syed Mubarak Hossain from Brahmanbaria, an expatriate Bangladeshi living in Italy, who went to dine out at a restaurant in the building with his wife, two daughters, and son.

Relatives also identified the bodies of Viqarunnisa  Noon School and College teacher Lutfun Nahar Karim, her daughter Jannatin Tajri, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology student Lamisa Islam, who is also the daughter of a senior police officer, another BUET student Nahian Amin, and journalist Abhishruti Shastri.

At least two employees of Kacchi Bhai restaurant, a cook, and a security guard were also among the victims.

Three members of a family were killed in the fire – Riya, 22, Alisha, 14, and their cousin Limu, 18.

Riya and Alisha’s mother, Rasheda Begum, said that Riya was a student at a university in Malaysia, and she came on vacation to the country. She died just hours before her return flight, said her mother.

Journalist Shastri, who used to work for a local online portal until December, went to the building with her friend Tusher Howlader.

Both were found dead later.

Survivor Sumaiya, 31, went to eat with her husband and one of their friends at a restaurant on the third floor of the building.

‘We were just about to order our food at about 9:45pm when everyone started to rush from the building. Everyone was panicking about the fire,’ said Sumaiya.

She said that they tried to go downstairs, but the gate was already closed, and the fire started to spread.

‘Then we were trying to go to the top floor, but we could only reach the fifth floor as the smoke was strong,’ Sumaiya added.

She said that they thought they would not survive, so they called their families to pray for them.

After two hours, they were rescued, and all were undergoing treatment at the SHNIBPS.

At 6:00pm on Friday, Dhaka district relief and rehabilitation officer Abdur Rahman said that they handed over 40 out of 46 bodies to their respective families, while three others were identified.

Rahman added that they received two applications for missing persons, and the matter was under investigation.

He said that the government was providing all necessary medical services to the injured at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, and the families were given Tk 25,000 each for funerals.

Briefing the reporter on the spot on Friday afternoon, Fire Service director general Main Uddin said the building had no fire safety plan.

‘We got one or two fire extinguishers, but crucially, we found only one stair. It was the only escape route. In the room in which people took shelter, there was not even a window,’ he said.

Main said that the fire service authorities served building owners three show-cause notices in the past but did not elaborate on whether any action was ever taken against the owners for breaching fire safety rules.

‘We served three notices [to the building owners], and it showed it was in our monitoring,’ he said.

After visiting the fire-razed building, Md. Abdullah Al Masud Chowdhury, the secretary of the Security Services Division of the home affairs division, said that they suspected the fire might have originated from the explosion of a gas cylinder in the cafe on the ground floor.

‘We have formed an inquiry committee to examine liabilities and the state of the fire safety arrangements in the building,’ he said.

The city development authority, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, said that the building, which is located in the centre of the city and is closed to major government offices, was not allowed to open any restaurants.

Separate units of the police department launched an investigation into the fire incident, while the Fire Service and Civil Defence has formed a five-member committee led by its director for operations and maintenance, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, to determine the cause.

The counter-terrorism and transnational crime unit of DMP also visited the floors and examined the impact.

The CTTC deputy commissioner, Mishuk Chakma, said that their blast experts were yet to confirm what exploded at that time.

Ashraful Islam, the deputy police commissioner at Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that they had launched a criminal investigation and were looking for the owner of the building.

The Criminal Investigation Department’s special superintendent for forensics, AKM Emran Bhuyain, told New Age that they collected 22 categories of samples from the debris for 14 types of laboratory tests.

‘Those tests will help to conclude the criminal investigation,’ said Emran.

After visiting the affected building on Friday, Dhaka South City mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that the Bangladesh National Building Code was completely violated during the construction of the building.

He said that the only staircase was occupied by gas cylinders and other goods.

‘People could not use the stairs to escape the fire,’ he said.

DSCC ward 13 general councillor Enamul Haq Abul told New Age that the building was constructed by the Amin Mohammad Group.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has also formed a seven-member committee headed by its member Development Control, Tonmoy Das.

Tonmoy told New Age that approval of the building was given for mixed commercial and residential use.

‘But, the commercial means office, not restaurant, where the fire incident can occur. But the building owners changed its use without taking permission from Rajuk,’ said Tonmoy.

Political parties and socio-cultural organisations expressed their condolences to the families of the victims of the fire.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, in a statement on Friday, held the government responsible for the fire, saying that it was a testament to the absence of the rule of law in the country.

‘Such fire repeats when a country has no rule of law. The government is not accountable to the people,’ BNP said in the statement.