Rescue hampered by immense crowd: Atiqul

Extinguishing the fire and the subsequent rescue efforts were hampered due to the immense crowd blocking roads around the site of the fire, said Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam.

Firefighters had to spray water from quite a distance, the mayor said while briefing reporters at the spot in Gulshan-2 after his inspection this noon.

"The rescue team was [initially] not able to bring in equipment and vehicles due to the crowd, resulting in losing valuable time when the fire started," he said.

The mayor also said he noticed people were going on Facebook live and were taking selfies with the building as background, quite oblivious to the fact that the residents needed quick rescue.

The mayor said the residential facility was a compliant building which followed every code stipulated by Rajuk. But unfortunately, the resident of the building did not have mock training on how to respond to fire during emergency.

He said an investigation committee has been formed who will find out the cause behind the region.

Dhaka North City Corporation will start an awareness programme soon, he added.