FR Tower, the site of the deadly fire that claimed 26 lives on Thursday, March 28, will not be used until a full assessment of the building is completed, according to the team from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) who inspected the building on Sunday.
Prof Mehedi Ahmed Ansary, head of the six-member Buet inspection team, said an initial report on the information collected during the inspection will be filed within two days, while a full assessment will require a minimum of 150 days. The tower will be closed for the entirety of this period, at the very least.
"When we inspected the building, we saw some cracks. The walls and columns of the building were in particularly bad condition," Mehedi said.
"In order to make the building compliant with the Bangladesh National Building Code, it will need various renovations. For example, fire exits have to be installed properly, and it is very important that the tempering of metal rods in the walls and foundation be checked," he added.
The BUET inspection team head further said: "Initially, permission had been granted to construct FR Tower as a 14-storey building. Subsequently, the permission was extended to 18 floors. However, the developer constructed the building with 22 floors. Whether the illegally constructed upper floors will be demolished will be decided after completion of the full assessment."