The Daily Star reports the following grim news:
The death toll may rise sharply, as rescuers early today were pulling out bodies from eight houses and 20 shops that had been reduced to ashes by the fire, the biggest in recent years.
The devastation was so severe that charred bodies, many of them beyond recognition, were seen lying everywhere–in alleyways, in front of shops, in staircases and in rooms.
“A devastating fire raced through several apartment complexes in the Bangladeshi capital, killing more than 100 people and injuring just as many, local media reported Friday.
Fire official Nazrul Islam said the blaze started when an electric transformer exploded late Thursday, igniting a three-story apartment building in the Najirabazar area of old Dhaka. He said the blaze then spread to other buildings where 87 charred bodies were later recovered.”
Rescue work has been made difficult by the very area that the tragedy took place. The old part of town is crammed, over populated with frail, seemingly weakly constructed building, along which wind down narrow streets.
News like this portend greater tragedies to come. This terrible incident, where some families have lost as many as seven members, is a signal that going forward the government with the aid of local leaders needs to manage the growth of urban civil construction in a way that mitigates a re-play of this tragic event.
Consider as the Daily Star reports:
“Even though the fire was less than a kilometre away from the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, it took firemen more than an hour to get there, locals alleged.”
“They said had the fire fighters reached the spot sooner, the casualty figure would have been significantly smaller.
Deputy Director of Fire Brigade and Civil Defence Abdur Rashid said they rushed to the spot as soon as they received the news but narrow roads and alleys slowed down their progress.”
It is nearly incontestibly the case that were the Fired Department able to arrive at the scene, many more lives would have been spared.
