The fire that killed six people and injured at least 50 at Tropical Alauddin Shopping Mall in Uttara on Friday was not caused by lift collapse, but by a gas explosion.
In fact, there is not evidence of any of the malls lifts collapsing, said Sub-Inspector Sohel Rana of Uttara West police station, who is investigating the accident.
“From what we have found during primary investigation, we suspect the accident was either caused by an electric short circuit, or a gas explosion,” he told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday. “Nothing can be said for certain; we will know what really happened after we receive the report of the fire service probe committee.”
He further said he is running some chemical tests using evidence collected from the mall's basement where the fire explosion took place.
This correspondent visited the accident site, where shop owners and workers in the mall expressed surprise at the news reports saying a lift collapsed and caused the fire.
“We have been noticing these reports claiming a lift fell down and caused the accident. But that is not what happened,” said Ali Haider, a shoe shop owner.
However, he said there has been a leak in the gas pipelines, which are in the basement, which could have caused the accident.
“I talked to Mahmudul Hasan, assistant general manager of Tropical Homes Ltd, about the leak and asked him to repair it. He assured me that the repair work would be done on Saturday morning, but the accident happened before then.”
Several other shop owners echoed Haider and said they had talked about the possible gas leak with Mahmudul as well.
Mahmudul, who was critically injured in the accident, died while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday.
Jasim Uddin, a security guard at the shopping mall's basement, said if the fire explosion had taken place later in the evening, more people would have died.
“I was on duty there when it happened. There were fewer cars in the basement; people were inside the mosque in the basement, so I stepped outside for a while. Suddenly I heard a loud sound and saw people running out of the basement,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Another shop owner, who requested anonymity, said the mall was still under lock down. “The OC [of Uttara West police station] told us to submit certificates from authorities concerned to reopen the market.”
The Dhaka Tribune attempted to contact the OC, Ali Hossain Khan, but could not reach him.
Investigation Officer Sohel said a case of unnatural death has been filed with the police station in this regard. “If evidence of negligence is found in the probe report, the case will become a murder case. The ones responsible for this accident will definitely brought to book.”
Thursday, April 25, 2024
