A massive fire, suspected to have been caused by a gas leak, burned down a major portion of a residential building in the capital’s Banani Road 23 yesterday.
Only two persons were injured; Naved Imtiaz and Md Saifullah – both residents of the building – are now receiving treatment at United Hospital for burn wounds and head trauma respectively. Five more people also received primary treatment for smoke inhalation and panic-induced emotional trauma.
Fire service officials rescued 20 more residents who had rushed to roof to escape the blaze and remained stuck there for more than an hour.
Most residents of the building – Asset Development’s Silverstone Sapphire – were asleep when the fire, accompanied by a large explosion, broke out reportedly on the third and sixth floors around 1:30am.
Flat owners of the building said the intensity of the explosion shattered the windows, cracked the walls and destroyed furnitures inside. The powerful explosion also shattered windows of the building opposite to the damaged one.
“Around 15 units of the fire service went to the spot and doused the blaze around 4:40am,” said Fire Service Headquarters Warehouse Inspector Polash Modokder.
Gas leak unfixed
A gas leak was spotted in front of the house a few days ago, but Titas Gas authorities did not act to repair the leak despite being notified repeatedly, said Naiar Rahman, a resident of Silverstone Sapphire.
“We noticed that gas was leaking from the [supply] line in front of the building. We informed the Titas Gas office about the leak two or three days ago, but they claimed of not having any labourers to fix the problem. Titas was again informed around 11pm Thursday, but nothing happened,” said Shamsul Alam, who owns six flats in the building.
Shamsul added that Dhaka North City Corporation had been working on sewerage lines just in front of the building, and expressed his suspicions that gas might have mixed with sewage water and caused the explosion.
But Fire Service Headquarters Duty Officer Ataur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the reason behind the fire could only be confirmed after thorough investigation.
DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq, who was present during the rescue operations, claimed that the ongoing road digging was not the source of the fire. “Road digging work is going on but the fire was not caused from here. It originated from inside the building. The cause will be known after investigation.”
The mayor instead blamed Titas Gas authorities for not addressing a gas leak. A representative from the contractor company that is digging the road contacted Titas Gas on March 17 regarding the gas leak, Annisul said, adding that the city’s gas authority failed to act immediately.
Titas Gas, meanwhile, also traded blames, saying it was the city corporation’s road digging that might have caused the gas leak.
“We [Titas Gas] received complain about the gas leak around 4pm Thursday. The leak might have been caused by the city corporation’s road digging work. But no one from the city corporation informed us about the leak,” Titas Gas Deputy Manager Harun-or-Rashid told the Dhaka Tribune.
Titas Gas also issued a press release in the evening, claiming that an inspection of the site revealed that a gas pipeline – 20 feet away from the damaged building – had been severed by an excavator that was digging the road as part of the city corporation’s work.
The release, signed by Titas Gas manager in-charge (public relations), added that a five-member committee has been formed to investigate whether the gas leak was the cause of the fire.
The gas leak has now been fixed and gas supply restored in the area, the release read.
Alamgir Hossain, radio operator for Titas who was contacted by the locals about the gas leak, has now been suspended for failing to take timely action, sources said.
Last month, four of a family died after a gas explosion in the family’s rented house in Uttara.
What now for the residents?
Mayor Annisul said residents of the building would be allowed to take away their valuables at 10am today. “The building will remain vacant until further decision,” he added.
To assess the condition of the damaged building, an expert team from Buet led by civil engineering department’s Prof Ishtiaq Ahmed visited the site yesterday afternoon.
Ishtiaq said the structural integrity of the building seemed to have not been affected by the fire, but further survey was required before assessing whether it was safe to reside in the building. “We are primarily suspecting that the fire might have caused from a gas leak,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rajuk Chairman Joynal Abedin said they would provide assistance to the flat owners if they ask for it.
Police have been deployed in and around the building to ensure security in the area.
