Though the authority of the Sayed Grand Centre in Uttara was issued multiple notices for not having proper firefighting arrangements, the building authorities did not take any action in this regard.
However, the building authority claims that the allegation is not true, said Md Sultan, on behalf of the building authority, on Wednesday noon.
“The fire service is not completely true. We had firefighting arrangements but it was not proper,” said Sultan.
When asked about sending fire service notices, he said he did not know about it.
Regarding the damage, he said that the 8th and 9th floors were damaged heavily in the fire. However, it is not clear what caused the fire, he added further.
Fire originated from the 9th floor
Director of Fire Service and Civil Defense Directorate Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said that the fire originated from the ninth floor of the building. There was a restaurant on this floor.
A cylinder of the restaurant exploded in the fire. As a result, the fire spread to the seventh and eighth floors as well. Now it could not be understood whether the fire started from this restaurant or not.
He said that the 17-storey building including the basement had a diagnostic centre, a buying house, a gym, various offices, and several shops of various accessories. But the building's firefighting system was not adequate.
“Now we have to see whether the building was built following the design and the plan of the building or not. Action will be taken upon investigation,” said the fire service official.
The fire broke out at Sayed Grand Centre in Dhaka’s Uttara area around 1:18am.
Twenty-four firefighting units extinguished the blaze around 4:40am on Wednesday after nearly three and a half hours
Two firefighters sustained minor injuries while dousing the flames.