The number of fire victims in Bangladesh has risen to 46, and there are many fire safety hazards in buildings
Bao Xuelin. A fire broke out in a building in the center of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on the night of February 29, and the death toll rose to 46 on March 1. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was "shocked" by the fire that killed and injured dozens of people, saying the fire was not reasonably designed. The fire department said the building had serious safety issues.
Bangladesh's Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Samanta Lal Sen, said on March 1 that firefighters confirmed 43 people killed in the early hours of the 1st, followed by the death of three more wounded. As a result of the fire, 22 people were injured, who are in critical condition, and the number of victims is likely to increase.
While attending an event in Dhaka on the 1st, Hasina talked about the fire, saying that the fire was caused by negligence. "What could be more painful than this (fire)? "We always ask architects to design a house or building with at least a small open balcony, an emergency exit, or a vent," but they don't design it that way, and landlords don't want to leave an inch of space.
The fire started in a restaurant on the first floor of the building, and the fire quickly spread upstairs, and firefighters struggled for more than two hours to extinguish the fire. Bangladesh** requested an investigation into the cause of the fire, and ** entered the damaged building in the early morning of the 1st for inspection.
According to the fire department, the fire may be related to a gas leak. Rezaul Karim, executive director of the fire department, told AFP that the fire was made worse by the large number of gas canisters used for cooking in the building's corridors and in the restaurant's kitchen. "At the time of the fire, people heard multiple gas canisters**.
Bangladesh's Department of Fire and Civil Protection** Main Uddin said there were safety hazards in the burning buildings. The building did not have at least two stairs or an emergency exit as required, and "the vast majority of the victims died of suffocation".
According to the Associated Press, the fire department sent notices to the building's owner at least three times to rectify the building's fire extinguishing system. Experts believe that poor supervision and violations of building safety codes by construction companies and owners are the reasons for the heavy casualties caused by the fire.
Similar fires have occurred in Bangladesh on several occasions, with the worst fire in the country to date occurred in 2012. On the night of November 24, 2012, a fire broke out at the Tazlin fashion company, 30 kilometers north of Dhaka, killing more than 110 people and injuring more than 200. (End) (Special article by Xinhua News Agency).