67 confirmed dead in 'unavoidable' death trap of fire

At least 67 people were confirmed dead in tragic fire at Chwakbazar on Wednesday night, officials confirmed, although unofficial reports indicated higher death toll.

According to witnesses, the fire victims could not even run away from the spot as the incident took place within moments. The spot was crammed with crowd and vehicles.

Bodies of most of the victims were burnt beyond recognition. Inspector general of police Md Jabed Patwary informed the media that 37 bodies were identified as of Thursday evening.

“The corpses have turned into skeletons. Some are burnt beyond recognition. DNA test is needed to identify those bodies,” DMCH’s National Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit chief coordinator Samanta Lal Sen told Prothom Alo.

Fire service officials blamed combustible chemical (body spray), inadequate water supply in the narrow alley and inability of fire fighters to reach the spot with equipments as the reasons of such a huge number of deaths.

Local traders, however, did not want to admit that chemical was behind the fire. Some of them said the fire was caused by a gas cylinder blast -- a claim that was echoed by the industries minister. Others claimed that the fire ensued from electric transformer blast.

Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said the fire originated from a gas cylinder blast, reports UNB.

He said Wahed Mansion, a four-storey building which caught the fire first, housed a hotel while there was a vehicle with gas cylinders for delivering those to households. "The explosion took place from any of them."

But a fire service official maintained that they did not find any evidence of gas cylinder blast.

Dhaka Power Distribution Company’s lineman Mobarak Hossain refuted the 'theory of transformer blast' saying there was no transformer in the area where the fire broke out.

The four other transformers of the adjacent area are also intact.

Fire service authorities did not make any comment about the origin of the fire. However, fire service department director Shakil Newaz told Prothom Alo that it would take at least 7 days.

Meanwhile, 11 people were admitted to DMCH.

Death toll may rise further as some of them are in critical conditions, said DMCH sources.

Near and dear ones of the victims gathered at the DMCH and tried to identify or looked to bodies throughout the day on Thursday.
People who survived the fire but had family members missing started thronging the morgue since morning.
Thirty-six of the identified deceased are named as Arafat, Shahadat Hossain, Helal Uddin, Enamul Haque Kazi, Mosharraf Hossain, Kamal Hossain, Siddique Ullah, Wasi Uddin, Syed Khabir, Jummon, Ali Hossain, Yamin Khan Roni, Morshed Alam, Mithu, Sajib, Hafez Md Kawsar, Abdur Rahim alias Dulal, Mahir, Sonia, Abu Bakkar Siddique, Imtiaz Imroze Rasu, Masud Rana, Mabubur Rahman Raju, Ashraf Haque Rajan, Omar Faruk, Md Ali, Apu Raihan, Jasim Uddin, Md Raju, Md Nayan Khan, Ayesha Khatun, Anwar Hossain, Siam Arafat, Mojibur Hawladar, Alauddin Mahi and Nur Hossain.