A death out of nowhere

A regular afternoon turned into a family’s worst nightmare, as a man died after a piece of iron rod fell from above and hit him on the head in Gulshan on Thursday.

Ashfaquzzaman Chowdhury, 45, a logistics manager at GE Healthcare Technologies, was standing on the footpath, chatting with a colleague after lunch when the tragedy struck. 

He was rushed to the United Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

The family has filed a lawsuit against three top officials of Concord Group, including its chairman and managing director, accusing them of gross negligence.

Meanwhile, Concord Group yesterday issued a statement regarding the death and claimed that the incident did not occur near its building but in front of another structure.

Ashfaq’s father-in-law, Sirajul Islam Talukder, filed the case with Gulshan Police Station on Thursday, naming Concord Group Managing Director Shahriar Kamal, Chairman SM Kamal Uddin, project in-charge Al Amin, and 10 to 12 unnamed individuals as accused, Sub-Inspector Aziz Mahmud, the investigation officer of the case, told The Daily Star.

As of last night, the police were still going through CCTV footage from the area and could not confirm from which building the rod fell.

“No one has been arrested yet. The investigation is ongoing,” the IO said.

According to the case statement, the incident occurred between 2:00pm and 2:45pm in front of Ashfaq’s office on Road-140 in Gulshan-1. 

At the time, construction work was underway on the 25th floor of the Concord MBR Skyline building located across the road.

Ashfaq’s colleague Sazzad Hossain told The Daily Star that they had been standing and talking for five to six minutes when the rod fell from above.

“I am still traumatised. I still can’t believe that a lively man, who I was just talking to, could die in such an unfortunate way. This is just unacceptable,” Sazzad said.

Ashfaq’s brother-in-law, Ashraful Hasan, said Ashfaq’s wife and their 11-year-old daughter have been left numb with grief.

“This cannot be described as mere negligence; it was gross negligence that led to a death. Construction work on a 25-storey building along a busy road cannot be carried out without adequate safety measures,” he added.

CONCORD STATEMENT

In a statement issued yesterday, Concord Group expressed deep sorrow over the death and conveyed condolences to the victim’s family.

The group claimed that at the time of the incident, glass-cleaning work was being carried out at a nearby building, using a scaffold along the footpath. During the work, a small piece of iron rod fell from above and struck the pedestrian on the head, it said.

The statement said workers were seen hurriedly removing the scaffold after the incident. It also claimed that several steel rods were visible on the roof of that building, from where a loose rod may have fallen. Concord said related video footage and visual evidence have been preserved.

According to the statement, Concord’s MBR Skyline project is located on the opposite side of the road, about 40 to 50 feet from the accident site.

“We want to state firmly and clearly that the rod involved in the accident did not come from the MBR Skyline project.”

Concord further claimed the recovered rod was old, rusted and partially painted and did not match rods used at its construction site.

It added that the northern side of the MBR Skyline building is fully covered with glass cladding and that no rod-related work was underway on that side.

The statement also said the footpath along Road-140 is protected by a tin shed and nylon safety nets, making it “practically impossible” for any object to fall from the building.

Concord said it is fully cooperating with the ongoing police investigation.