Bangladesh News

“It seemed the flames spiralled up the staircase and chased down eight members of a family burning them alive as they were climbing up the staircase to the roof,” said Abdul Khaleq, who witnessed the tragedy from behind the glass door of his flat on the building.

“Only those who tried to go up to the roof died. The fire did not enter any rooms of the building and therefore 18-year-old Shanto is the lone survivor of the family as he was in a room on the first floor,” Khaleq said.

Nine people died early yesterday in a fire at a five-storey building on Aga Sadeq Road in Old Dhaka, eight of a family and the family’s house help. Twenty others of the building were also injured.

The deceased were identified as Shabana Siddiqui, 45, her daughter Ayesha Siddiqui, 15, son Abu Sayeed Shuvo, 11, mother Meherunnessa, 65, Shabana’s brother-in-law Akmal Hossain, 52, Akmal’s sons Aman Hossain, 11, and Rafin Ahmed, 6, Shabana’s nephew Anas Hossain, 7, and house help Amisha, 18.

The fire broke out around 12:15am from a shoe factory on the ground floor of the building. Sources said during a power cut an accident involving a lit candle and glue used in the factory triggered the devastating fire.

Shanto, Shabana’s lone surviving son, was seen yesterday sitting alone under a tree at nearby Bangladesh Math, a playground, where all the bodies of his family were taken for their namaz-e-janaza.

He shed no tears apparently shocked by losing everyone in his family.

A few thousand people thronged the ground to see the bodies and take part in the namaz-e-janaza. They were buried at the Azimpur graveyard.

Shanto’s relatives said his father died 38 days ago and Shabana had a fever which led the other victims to pay a visit to their home. Shanto stayed in his room during the fire with the door closed while the nine tried to escape to the roof.

Golam Rabbani, a tenant of third floor of the building who was also injured, said, “Hearing the hue and cry for help, I opened the door of my flat and saw flames raging through the staircase with astonishing speed. I was burnt but managed to close the door.”

Quoting an employee of the shoe factory, Abdul Khaleq said, “A lit candle fell on a can of glue igniting it and over hundred other glue cans stored there. The shooting flames went up the staircase.”

The employees of the shoe factory have reportedly fled and the police are keeping the building off limits to people.

Sayed Nurul Islam, assistant commissioner (AC) of police of Lalbagh-Kotwali Zone, told The Daily Star, “The fire would not have had happened if the highly flammable glue was not stored in a residential building.”

Officials of the Fire Service and Civil Defence said the building was in a congested part of Old Dhaka and they faced difficulty in reaching the spot. They said the building was built on a very small piece of land and was surrounded by other buildings from three sides. They could neither use powerful hoses from those sides nor launch rescue efforts.