Home ›› 05 Apr 2023 ›› Front
A devastating fire gutted the Bangabazar market in Dhaka on Tuesday, destroying clothing products worth more than Tk 1,000 crore, and leaving traders – who had been waiting for the lucrative Eid sales – effectively penniless.
An official account of losses is yet to be available till the filing of this report, but traders claim that over 5,000 of their shops have been reduced to cinder.
The fire broke out in the Bangabazar Complex a little after 6am on Tuesday, and quickly spread to the nearby Adarsha market, Mohanagar Market, Gulistan Market, Annex Tower, and Islamia Market.
Forty-eight firefighting units of Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control at around 12:36pm, after more than six hours of frantic effort.
Teams of army, navy, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion, and Ansar personnel also assisted in the endeavour. Besides, a helicopter of the Bangladesh Air Force was also used to carry water to the scene of the incident.
Speaking to the media, FSCD Director General Brig Gen Md Main Uddin said, “It will take some more time to completely extinguish the fire. We will have to check every floor and every room. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
“We will form a 5-member committee to probe the incident. We will be able to provide more details later.”
Goods worth Tk1,000cr reduced to cinder
Visiting the scene of the fire, Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity President Md Helal Uddin told reporters, “Around 5,000 shops in Bangabazar and the surrounding markets were damaged in the fire.
“This is not the right time to evaluate the losses, but initial estimates show that clothing goods worth over Tk 1,000cr have burned to ashes.”
He then pointed out, “The market had both big and small shops, and everyone had stocked products in their store to cover the massive consumer demand during Eid. The fire has financially crippled traders in the area.
“These businesses’ entire investment was the goods stored at their shops. The fire took away everything the traders had. We demand that the government allocate Tk 700 crore initially to compensate for the traders’ loss of Eid-time sales.”
Traders say Bangabazar is one of the biggest wholesale clothing markets in the country, and it expects a large volume of sales during the Eid.
The business of this market had gradually accumulated centring on the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr – the largest festival of Muslim community. The sales volume in Bangabazar was starting to pick up since the beginning of this year, but Tuesday’s fire has left the traders effectively penniless.
12 suffer minor injuries
At least 12 people got injured in the fire, including several members of the fire service department.
Mohammad Russel, head of Rapid Service of Dhaka Medical College Hospital said, “There are no severe cases, and most of the injuries are minor. Twelve people came here from Bangabazar for treatment.
“Among them, eight people are under observation and four people have been admitted to the hospital.”
Fire service vehicles, building vandalised
A mob of agitated people and businessmen threw bricks at the FSCD head office located on Kazi Alauddin Road in Old Dhaka amid the devastating fire. This incident happened on Tuesday morning around 9:20am.
The attacker broke windows of the building, and left four firefighters injured.
Businessmen complained that although there is a fire service office at walking distance on the opposite side of Bangabazar, they initially neglected to douse the flames. They claimed that the situation would not have been so dire if the fire service had started working immediately.
Police later arrived in the area and brought the situation under control.
A number of Bangabazar shop owners, including Faruk Ahmed, Riajul Alam and Neyamot Mollah, claimed that the fire not only gutted the shops, but destroyed nearby markets as well, and the fire service’s negligence is responsible for the situation.
Tajul Islam, owner of Allah’r Dan Garment’s in Bangabazar, said he is a small businessman. His shop had goods worth Tk 4 to Tk 5 lakh. On hearing the news, he rushed to the scene from Siddique Bazar, but could not save anything from his shop.
Another businessman Rafiqul Islam said, “The fire was a little far from his shop. I had requested a firefighter to douse my shop with water, but he asked me to move instead. I also tried to recover Tk 2.5 lakh from my shop’s cash box, but I could not do that either.”
Many businessmen, including the two of them, alleged that many of their shops would have been saved if the fire service had started work timely.
FSCD DG blames 3 reasons for delay
FSCD’s Director General Brig Gen Md Main Uddin said the fire service faced three issues while trying to extinguish the fire.
“The first problem was the crowd which had gathered in the scene, second was water shortage in the area, and the third was the gusty wind. That is why it took us a while to bring the fire under control,” he added.
About the attack on firefighters, he said, “Despite the efforts and sacrifices made by the FSCD personnel to protect the people, it is not clear who attacked the FSCD building and its members, or why.
“I would like to tell people that the fire service is always there in any emergency,” he told reporters, pointing out that, “Thirteen firefighters were martyred in the last one year and 29 were injured. Eight FSCD personnel were injured at the Bangabazar market fire on Tuesday.”
He further said, “It will take some more time to put out the fire completely. We will have to check every floor, and every room. We are yet to determine the cause of the fire. We will form a five-member committee to probe the incident.”
Bangabazar designated ‘risky’ in 2019
The FSCD had designated the shops and establishments in Bangabazar as risky on April 2, 2019.
FSCD’s DG Main said, “We had declared this market as dangerous and hung a banner as a warning. We also issued notices ten times to the market on different occasions. We did what we could, but business continued there as usual.”
After the notices were served, it was the city corporation and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha’s responsibility to take further action.
When asked whether it is because of their negligence that caused today’s situation at Bangabazar, the FSCD DG replied, “I don’t have an answer to this question. You [reporters] better ask the organisations you [reporters] mentioned.”
Insiders say that in 2018, the fire service held a meeting with members of the Bangabazar Business Association regarding the safety of this market. At that time, they were given various suggestions on what to do about the issue.
Police barrack property burnt
The devastating fire also spread to the nearby Bangladesh Police Headquarters in Gulistan. Police personnel managed to evacuate safely after a fire broke out in a barrack there. However, it was not possible to get the goods out. Everything in the barracks was burnt.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun added that an investigation should be launched to ascertain what documents and goods were damaged in the fire.
Regarding the attack on fire service headquarters, the police chief said, “You have also seen the situation. There were thousands of people there. On receiving the news of the attack, we immediately went there and brought the situation under control.
“We will identify the culprits and take action against them.”
He then said, “A committee has already been formed to investigate the fire. “If there is any case of sabotage, it will come out during the investigation. We will wait for the report, and then take actions accordingly.”
DSCC mayor blames traders
Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh blamed traders for the Bangabazar blaze, saying that they were repeatedly warned of the risks of running businesses at the markets.
“The market was marked as risky in 2019. But we could not stop the traders from running business there even after serving them notices several times,” the mayor said at a press conference in the city corporation building on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman said, “The fire has affected 5,000 traders in six nearby markets, including Bangabazar. They bought many goods on the occasion of Eid. They have suffered financial ruin.
“The prime minister said she would work on rehabilitating the affected traders after conducting an investigation and ascertaining the damage. We have given instructions from our ministry to the deputy commissioner’s office, to pay Tk 15,000 to each of the injured immediately.”
