Restaurants run with gas cylinders on stairs, no emergency exit, 16 held

Restaurants are mostly operating in residential buildings in Wari of the capital, with many restaurants placing their gas cylinders and cooking equipment on stairs and some even having no emergency exit.

This scenario was seen when forces from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police raided 14 such establishments on Rankin Street in Wari. Police also arrested 16 people during the raids on various charges.

Police said these restaurants operated with severe fire risk. Most of them have no fire extinguishing system or emergency exit. Several restaurants even have three doors between their kitchen and service area, and if a fire breaks out in the kitchen none will be able to escape the fire.

The raid started at Rose Valley Shopping Mall adjacent to the Wari police station at 3:45pm. Police raided I Love Mezzan on the first floor, and Food Stove, Orange Café, Burgerology and Burger Express on the second floor, and found discrepancies. At least five people from these restaurants were detained during the raid.

Burger Express manager Shafiqul Islam spoke to the journalists before being detained by the police. He said, “Police told us that the kitchen is next to the service area and gas cylinders are kept in the kitchen. Besides, the building has no fire staircases and one needs to cross three doors to reach the building stairs. We told the police we would fix the problems after discussing with the owners.”

DMP deputy commissioner (Wari division) deputy commissioner Iqbal Hossain said, “We raided the buildings on Rankin Street. Commercial firms operate on residential buildings, which do not have adequate security measures. People are eating at restaurants while burners and gas cylinders are placed next to the service area. Several buildings have no exit stairways. Building staircases are small while space on stairs narrows due to storing goods on it.”

Six or seven people including the manager of three restaurants were detained while several gas cylinders were seized, Iqbal Hossain added.

However, several restaurants operate on commercial buildings having all fire extinguishing systems, emergency exits and other facilities.