The fire, which started on Sunday night, continues to flare up intermittently on Tuesday at the six-storey Gazi Tyres factory building in Rupganj, Narayanganj, making it impossible for fire service personnel to enter the building on Tuesday.
This has prolonged the agonizing wait for the families of those missing in the fire.
As of 9pm on Tuesday, 48 hours after the incident, no official information about the missing individuals has been provided by any government agency.
The prolonged wait has fueled anger among the families waiting outside the factory, with various rumors and speculations spreading among them.
Saiful Islam, the sub-divisional engineer of the Narayanganj Public Works Department, said that a team of their engineers visited the site in the afternoon.
Although the fire was under control, the building was still extremely hot, preventing them from entering.
He said: "We observed from outside that various parts of the building have been damaged by the heat. Fires were still burning in several areas. The building is in a very dangerous condition. The fire service has informed us that they expect to extinguish the fire completely by tomorrow (Wednesday). We will then revisit and assess whether it is safe to enter the building and conduct a rescue operation."
Fire continues 48hrs on
As of 9pm on Tuesday, the fire was still burning inside the factory building. Fire service personnel were still struggling to extinguish it completely.
At 8pm, Fire Service Deputy Director Bazlur Rashid said: "It is proving impossible to bring the fire under full control. Fires keep flaring up on the fifth and sixth floors of the building intermittently."
Regarding the search inside the building, he said: "We had hoped to conduct a full search of the building for casualties by this afternoon. However, the building is at risk of collapsing due to the prolonged exposure to fire. Therefore, we sought the assistance of the Public Works Department for advice. They visited the site in the afternoon but were unable to enter the building due to the extreme heat. We are also unable to enter the building at this time. Until the fire is completely extinguished, we cannot confirm whether there are any bodies inside."
Grief intensifies
The families of those who have gone missing continue to wait at the factory gates, even into the night. Among them is Asabuddin, the brother of a rickshaw driver named Shanu Mia.
He said: "We have had no contact for the past two days. His phone is off. We don't know where my brother is or how he is doing. At least give us his body."
As of 9pm, the Rupganj Upazila administration is compiling a list of the missing.
An official from the Upazila administration said: "We are preparing a list, but we are not releasing any names at this time."
Earlier in the day, Mahima Mir, a graduate student at Murapara Government College, said they had registered the names of at least 126 missing persons.
Mahima said: "We students began compiling a list from noon to determine how many people were missing due to the incident. We are collecting not only names but also voter IDs and photos of the missing individuals."
On Monday, Fire Service Media Cell Officer Talha Bin Jasim had recorded the names and details of 175 missing persons based on claims from their families.
Probe body formed
An eight-member investigation committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Hamidur Rahman, has been formed by the district administration to investigate the fire at the Gazi Tyres factory in Rupganj.
Confirming this, Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mahmudul Haque said that the investigation committee would include representatives from the Public Works Department, Fire Service, and the Electricity Department.
The committee has already begun its work. Those responsible for starting the fire will be identified.
“Once the situation is fully under control, we will assess the extent of the damage and the number of people inside. However, we have no information at this time about whether anyone is trapped or has died," he said.
Six-storey Building
According to sources at Gazi Tyres, the six-story building that caught fire was used as a warehouse for raw materials from the ground floor to the sixth floor.
Large quantities of rubber and chemicals were stored in the building.
Rubel, who was in charge of security at Gazi Tyres, told Dhaka Tribune that the ground and first floors of the building housed rubber and rubber manufacturing machinery, while the second floor contained large quantities of tire manufacturing materials.
The third floor was filled with chemicals, including rosin for rubber, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors were also packed with rubber and chemicals.
According to Gazi Tyres, the factory is situated on approximately 45 acres of land in the Khadun area of Rupganj Upazila, with at least 16 structures inside, including sheds.
The factory began production in 2002, manufacturing tires for rickshaws, buses, trucks, pickups, and CNG vehicles from locally produced rubber.
The factory employed around 4,000 workers, and the factory authorities claim that the fire has caused damage worth around Tk9,000-10,000 crore.