The blaze at Prime Plastic factory in Keraniganj has claimed 22 workers so far and 10 persons are taking treatment at the hospital.
Though 13 days have passed after the accident on 11 December, the factory owner has not been arrested. The factory has been sealed by the district administration. In this incident, a case has been lodged at the Keraniganj thana,
Efforts are underway to arrest factory owner Nazrul Islam. Relatives of the workers who have died or were wounded have said that they were not contacted by the owners.
Acting OC of Keraniganj thana, Shah Zaman has said: “the younger brother of a victim has lodged a case and we are carrying our drives to nab the owner.”
Answering to a question if the police had taken any step earlier about the factory, he said: “the issue of legality of a factory is not within our jurisdiction; but if anyone complains then we can investigate.”
The factory had been running illegally for a few years and manufactured one time plates and cups, employing more than 150 workers. On 11 December around 4:30 pm, the factory was engulfed in fire from a gas chamber leakage. Later, ten units of fire control brought the blaze under control.
A worker named Mahbub was killed on the spot and 31 workers were admitted to the burn unit if the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and 21 persons succumbed to their injuries.
Coordinator of the Sheikh Hasina Burn Unit, Dr. Samanta Lal Sen, said: “ten persons were on life support and eight have died, two persons are improving and their life support has been take off.”
Meanwhile, two separate committees have been formed to assess cause of the accident and extent of the damage though members of the fire service and civil defence are facing hindrances in investigation as the factory has been sealed off by the district administration.
A fire service source says: from initial investigation and the destruction of the fire it can be said that the fire started from a gas leakage.
Prime Plastic factory experienced another fire incident in November 2016 and there have been at least three fire accidents.
