At least twelve people including four of a family died yesterday when a two-storey house made of corrugated iron sheets collapsed into a water body in the capital’s Rampura.
Locals said the number of fatalities might climb as they feared that several residents might still be trapped underwater inside the collapsed structure.
Locals try to rescue the victims from a two-storey house that collapsed yesterday killing 12 people in Rampura in the capital. Photo: Mehedi Hasan
Nearly 100 low-income people used to live in the poorly-built house that was erected using only bamboo poles over the muddy bed of the water-hyacinth-filled jheel or water body at Hajipara.
The casualties were higher in number as the incident took place around 2:45pm yesterday, a time when many of the residents were inside having their lunch, the locals claimed.
The deceased were Mizan, 35, and Nizam Khan, 45, Jakir, 40, Runa, 13, Josna, 45, and her daughter Farzana, 12, Mizan, 35, his wife Roksana, 22, and daughter Kalpana, 15. Among them, Mizan and Nizam Khan died after being taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Abdul Malek, who survived the incident by breaking the roof to climb out of the collapsed house, said he and his wife Rina Begum were planning to take an afternoon nap when suddenly the entire house began to move and started going down. Rina was still trapped inside the collapsed structure, Malek claimed.
A teenager named Imran, who was flying his kite nearby when the building started to go down, told the Dhaka Tribune that he initially heard a sound coming from the house, while some moments later he saw the structure getting sucked in by the mud underneath.
Maj AKM Shakil Newaz, acting director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told reporters six fire service units had joined the rescue efforts. “We have failed to move the building as it was built using steel and tin [corrugated iron sheets]; for this, we are doing our work by cutting [the structure] down slowly.”
Saying it was not possible to estimate when the rescue operations would end, the fire service chief admitted that if anyone was still trapped on the ground floor of the collapsed structure, they were unlikely to be alive.
Around 9:30pm, rescuers started using heavy equipment to move the wreckage.
Anwar Hossain, acting deputy police commissioner of Motijheel division, said the owner of the house, Moniruzzaman, had gone into hiding soon after the incident.
Asked whether the building had been constructed legally, he said city corporation officials would have to look into this issue. However, the police would take necessary actions after the rescue efforts end, Anwar added.
The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that the land where the house stood belonged to Bangladesh Railway, while Moniruzzaman – a Jubo League leader – had used his muscle power to build the house illegally over the water body.
Contacted, Rajuk Chairman GM Jainal Abedin Bhuiya said such buildings are often built illegally to house low-income people. Despite being aware of the existence of such structures, Rajuk was unable to take action as there was no resettlement system for the floating people.
Following yesterday’s incident, the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has formed a three-member probe committee.
Meanwhile, Dhaka’s deputy commissioner’s office has declared Tk20,000 as compensation for each family of the deceased and Tk5,000 for those injured. A magistrate was also assigned at the site to collect information on the victims.