Fire believed to have originated from second-floor dining room: Fire Service

The Fire Service has not yet been able to confirm the exact cause of the fire that broke out at a residential building in Uttara, Dhaka. Based on preliminary findings, the incident is being considered accidental.

The Fire Service said a five-member investigation committee has been formed to determine the cause of the blaze, and the actual reason will be known after the probe is completed.

The fire broke out on Friday morning at a six-storey residential building on Road no. 18 in Sector 11 of Uttara. Six people from two families, including children, died in the incident. Seven others lost consciousness due to smoke inhalation and recovered by Saturday.

Director (Operations) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, told Prothom Alo on Saturday that a five-member investigation committee had been formed, headed by Deputy Director of the Fire Service’s Dhaka Division, Md Saleh Uddin. The committee has been asked to submit its report within the next 15 working days and has already begun its work.

Fire Service sources said members of the investigation committee visited the scene on Saturday and spoke with the building’s security guard and nearby residents. However, residents had not returned to the damaged building as of Saturday.

Committee member and Deputy Assistant Director of Fire Service Dhaka Region-3, Md Abdul Mannan, told Prothom Alo that the building owner, Jewel Mollah, lived in a duplex apartment spanning part of the second floor and the entire third floor.

The fire originated in the dining room of the second-floor duplex unit, causing most of the items in that room to be reduced to ashes. The kitchen, by comparison, suffered less damage. Because there was a wooden staircase inside the duplex, the fire quickly spread to the third floor, producing heavy smoke.

Abdul Mannan said that during their on-site inspection, neither the building owner nor any of his family members were found at the premises. Jewel Mollah had left the house earlier for personal reasons, well before the fire broke out. After the fire started, other family members managed to get out quickly.

However, on Friday, Zahidul Islam, a resident of the second floor, told journalists that the building owner, Jewel Mollah, had left the house with his family before the fire began.

According to Abdul Mannan, after the fire broke out, fifth-floor resident Fazle Rabbi, an official of SKF, along with his wife Afroza Akhtar and their two-year-old son Kazi Faiyaz, and sixth-floor resident fruit trader Hares Uddin, along with his son Rahab Uddin and niece Rodela Akhtar, attempted to go up to the roof.

But the rooftop gate was locked, forcing them to return to their apartments. They had left the main door open, allowing thick black smoke to enter the flat directly, causing them to lose consciousness.

He added that seven other residents of the building, who were also unable to access the roof, remained in the stairwell and likewise lost consciousness. Firefighters climbed to the roof using hoses, cut open the rooftop gate, and rescued a total of 13 unconscious people, taking them to different hospitals.

Physicians at multiple hospitals declared three members of Fazle Rabbi’s family and three members of Hares Uddin’s family dead. The others received treatment at various hospitals and later recovered.

Fire Service officials said that all residents who had stayed inside their apartments with the doors closed were rescued alive. Had the rooftop gate been open, officials believe, there was a strong possibility that everyone could have survived.

When contacted on Saturday evening, Uttara West Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kazi Rafiq Ahmed told Prothom Alo that no case or complaint had been filed by the relatives of the six deceased. However, the police have recorded a general diary (GD) regarding the incident.