Bangladesh
fire fighters, Saturday put out the blaze at a packaging factory where an
explosion earlier in the day triggered a massive fire, which led to the
collapse of its three-story building.
At least 24 workers were killed while
scores injured on Saturday in an explosion that triggered a massive fire
leading to collapse of a three-story of a packaging factory in Bangladesh
Officials
said the incident happened in the Tampaco Foils Ltd at Tongi on the outskirts
of Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Saturday at about 6:00 a.m. ( local time).
Officials said that Bangladesh fire fighters, after hectic efforts of eight
hours, managed to put out the blaze, which was spreading to other adjacent
buildings Saturday at around 3p.m. local time.
They said the fire triggered by
the blast spread quickly because flammable chemicals were stored at the factory
building which collapsed like a sandwich just in several minutes.
It is the
biggest industrial disaster since 2013 when the Rana Plaza building collapsed.
“We’ve also come to know that at least 24 people were killed in the devastating
fire caused by a boiler explosion,” a Tongi police official said.
Scores of the
injured people were rushed to different hospitals in Dhaka and Tongi where many
were said to be in critical condition.
The official who would not like to be
named said the death toll may go up as many people have sustained critical injuries.
Nearly 70 people were injured in the fire triggered by explosion, said the
official.
The Bangladesh authorities have already formed a five-member
investigation committee which will submit its report in 15 working days.
A
worker, who survived the tragedy, said many of them were inside the factory
during the explosion because that was the time for morning shift workers to
take the charges from their night shift colleagues.
Bangladeshi State Minister
for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu said families of those killed in
the explosion will get 200,000 taka each as compensation. The tragedy once
again revived questions about the commitments of the sector insiders to
providing safe working conditions for the workers in the largest export sector
in Bangladesh.
The sector comprises about 5,000 factories employing more than 4
million workers, 80 per cent of whom are women.
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