A district official confirmed that a list of 173 potential victims has not been made public.
Kamran Reza Chowdhury/Dhaka
Bangladesh fire authorities said Wednesday they were abandoning a search for missing people after a blaze set by looters gutted a tire factory near Dhaka, although scores were unaccounted for and believed by their families to have been trapped inside.
Hundreds of people from nearby villages rushed to the Gazi Tire and Pipe factory in Narayanganj, about 20 km (12.5 miles) from Dhaka, on Sunday after police arrested Golam Dastagir Gazi, the owner of the plant who served as textile and jute minister under the recently ousted government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“We have primarily prepared a list of 173 missing people. Now, we are collecting the national identity cards of the potential victims. The list has not been made public,” Mohammad Mahmudul Haque, the chief of Narayanganj district administration, told BenarNews on Wednesday.
Authorities said they were able to rescue 34 people shortly after the fire broke out at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, but the factory burned for more than 32 hours before being brought under control early Tuesday.
“The engineers from the public works department today visited the building, but they could not certify that rescue work could be conducted. An expert team of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology will visit the building and certify the building’s suitability for rescue work,” Haque said.
Also on Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Md. Main Uddin, director general of the fire service and civil defense wing of the government, said that crews could not enter the structure.
“The building can collapse anytime. We cannot go inside unless the experts give us a green light. The fire fighters have been working from outside the building,” he told BenarNews.
A drone takes videos as it flies over the burned-out Gazi Tire and Pipe factory (top photo) while authorities check images in an effort to locate bodies of those reported missing, Aug. 28, 2024. [BenarNews]
An interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has been struggling to contain protests and looting since it came to office on Aug. 8 in the wake of Hasina’s resignation and departure three days earlier, as student-led anti-government protesters marched toward her official residence in Dhaka.
Since her 15-year-old government fell and many officials from it fled or went into hiding, university students have been volunteering to help direct traffic and support flood-relief efforts, among other activities.
Gazi Golam Murtaza Pappa, son of Golam Dastagir Gazi, declined a request from BenarNews for comment on the fire.
Fire service spokesman Md. Shahjahan Sikder explained why it had not released details about those missing.
“Making a list is not our duty – possibly, our workers helped the administration to prepare the list. Unless we rescue anyone, we cannot disclose their names,” he said.
Meanwhile, relatives of those missing gathered for a third day near the factory as they sought information about their loved ones.
Iqbal Khan, a cloth trader and resident of Rupganj sub-district, said at least 10 people from his village were missing. He identified some of them as his cousin, Swapon Khan, 35, his nephew, Saeed Khan, 15, Abu Saeed Bhuiyan, 48, Ali Asad Bhuiyan, 43, Md Shahzad Shikder, 28, and Md. Mohsin Bhuiyan.
“Since Sunday night, we have been visiting factory premises to learn about them. But no one could say anything,” Khan told BenarNews. “We fear that they possibly died inside the factory building. At around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Abdu Saeed Bhuiyan called his family members and friends crying for help from inside the building.
“I called him and others after 30 minutes, but none responded. After some time, the phones were switched off,” he said.
Iqbal Khan and others were asking authorities to gather skulls, bones and other remains of those who lost their lives.
“In that case, we can arrange a token funeral,” he said.
Human rights activist Nur Khan said the district administration should have made the list of the missing people public.
“Though they went to the factory for looting, the government must disclose the number and identities of the potential victims. This would make people aware that looting could be dangerous,” he said.
“This is illogical to think that the people trapped in the burning building would survive. Even their bodies would burn. Now, the government should carry out a forensic examination to determine the identities of the victims,” Khan said. “The people must wait as a forensic investigation is a time-consuming process.”
Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Used with the permission of BenarNews.
