Fire in Gazipur Factory Kills 1, 42 Injured

A worker was killed while 42 others were injured as a fire broke out at a chemical warehouse of a garment factory in Sreepur Upazila of Gazipur on Saturday.

The deceased Masum Shikder, 23, was a resident of Char Kusumhati village under Dohar Upazila of Dhaka.

The fire originated at the chemical warehouse of Dhaka Garments and Washing Ltd, located in the Dakkhin Bhangnahati area, around 10 am, said Senior Station Officer Md Mia Raj of Sreepur Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Two firefighting units brought the blaze under control within half an hour, he added.

The cause of the fire could not be known immediately.  

Sreepur police station Sub-Inspector Md Sadek said the body of the deceased was recovered from the warehouse after putting out the fire and was being sent to the morgue of Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College for autopsy.

Sreepur Upazila Health Complex physician KM Razmul Ahsan said 42 injured workers and employees were brought to the health complex.

Of them, 12 were referred to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, he said, adding that their respiratory organs might have been damaged.

20 people were given first aid while 10 others are undergoing treatment at the health complex, the physician added.

Workers alleged that the authorities refused to allow them to leave the factory during the incident. 

At one stage they became angry and started hitting the gate, forcing the authorities to open it.

They also said some workers and staff lost consciousness due to the smell of toxic gas as they went to put out the fire.

Earlier in February, another fire at a chemical factory in Sreepur killed a worker and injured over a dozen others.