Uttara building fire claims six lives

Six people died in a fire that broke out at a six-storey residential building in the capital’s Uttara yesterday, while 13 others fell ill from smoke inhalation.

Doctors and fire officials said none of the deceased -- three of them children -- had burn marks on their bodies, suggesting they died from asphyxiation.

The victims were identified as Kazi Fazle Rabbi, 38, his wife Afroza Akter Suborna, 37, and their two-year-old son Kazi Fayaz Rishan; as well as Hares Mia, 52, his 17-year-old son Rahab, and 14-year-old niece Rodela.

They lived in two flats on the building’s fourth floor on Road 18 in Sector 11.

The fire broke out on the first floor around 7:50am, said Talha Bin Zasim of the Fire Service Media Wing. 

Two units from Uttara Fire Station arrived at 7:58am, brought the blaze under control by 8:25am, and fully extinguished it around 10:00am.

Jahidul Islam, a tenant on the first floor, told The Daily Star he woke up to the sound of shattering glass and what seemed like metal being cut. 

Suspecting a burglary, he opened his door and saw flames blazing from the opposite flat, which belongs to the landlord. He rushed out with his wife and child.

The landlord occupies one flat on the first floor and both flats on the second floor. No one from his family was reported dead or injured. He could not be reached for comment.

The injured were taken to Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital.

Safayet Hossain, a senior teacher at Milestone School and College who lives nearby, said he heard shouts of “fire, fire” and saw flames on the first and second floors. 

“Many people on the upper floors were shouting ‘Save us, save us’,” he said, adding that some tried to break window grills with bamboo poles to escape.

Alam Hossain, a senior officer at Uttara Fire Service Station, said firefighters found the roof door locked while extinguishing the blaze.

Later, many residents who gathered outside the burnt building expressed outrage, saying the locked roof door had prevented escape and cost six lives.

They mentioned that most buildings in the area keep roof doors padlocked, with keys held only by landlords. 

As tenants often cannot access the roof in emergencies, residents demanded that roof doors either remain unlocked or that every tenant be provided with a spare key.

The fire may have originated from an electrical short circuit on the first floor, said fire service official Alam Hossain.

Meanwhile, police suspect the fire may have also been caused by a leak from the gas line, said Mohammad Moniruzzaman, inspector (investigation) of Uttara West Police Station. 

Gas cylinders for all families are kept on the ground floor, from where gas is piped to kitchens. He said the fire could have started from these pipes or one of the kitchens. 

The Criminal Investigation Department has sealed off the building.

The bodies of the victims were handed over to families without autopsies.

Namaz-e-Janaza for the deceased was held in three stages at a nearby mosque yesterday afternoon.