Tongi boiler blast toll hits 25

A fire visibly triggered by a boiler explosion at a packaging factory in Tongi today killed so far at last 25 people and injured nearly 100 while the blaze collapsed parts of the four-storey building sparking fears that some people could be trapped inside.

“Twenty five people died so far . . . the toll may rise,” Gazipur fire service and civil defence deputy assistant director Akhtaruzzaman briefly told BSS.

He said 17 died at the scene at Tampaco Foils Limited at BSCIC industrial estate of Tongi and the rest eight succumbed to their wounds at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and other health facilities including Tongi Government Hospital, Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hspital and Kurmitola Medical College Hospital.

Doctors at DMCH and other facilities meanwhile told newsmen that they were treating some of the people with critical burn wounds indicating the toll might rise.

Fire officials said 25 units of theirs from different fire stations were engaged to douse the fire and rescue the victims.

They said the roof of the four-storey building collapsed as the blaze erupted and parts of the debris fell on the road in front of the structure killing three rickshaw passengers instantly.

Witnesses and fire officials said most of the victims appeared to be employees and staff of the factory.

They said some 100 people were inside the building as the fire broke out in the predawn hours.

Fire fighters speculated that chemicals stored on the ground floor of the factory helped the blaze spread across the structure causing the disaster, the worst since 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza.

“Parts of the building collapsed and we fear some could have been trapped inside but we cannot confirm it or tell you how many people are inside . . . right this moment our priority is to rescue them,” a fire brigade official told newsmen at the scene.

Survivors said the explosion of the boiler sparked the blaze while the ceilings of the building fall down on the laborers as they were inside.

“We have launched investigations . . . the persons responsible for the accident, the owner of the factory in particular will face stern legal actions if their fault is found,” home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told newsmen.

Residents in the factory neighbourhood said they woke up early in the morning hearing a huge explosion and saw smoke and fire coming out of the factory on the Saturday weekend ahead of the Eid u Azha festival.

“The Eid is ruined for our family,” a waling mid-aged woman was heard saying as the accident claimed the life of a close relative if hers.