Ashulia Factory Fire: 26 female workers suffer burns

At least 26 female workers sustained burn injuries, many of them critically, after a fire broke out at a gas lighter factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka yesterday.

"The fire broke out at Colour Match BD Ltd in the Girabo area around 4:25pm," Abdul Hamid, senior station officer of DEPZ fire station, told The Daily Star.

However, he could not confirm how the fire originated.

On information, fire fighters with nine fire trucks from different fire stations doused the blaze after two hours of frantic effort, a correspondent from Savar reported, quoting Hamid.

Twenty one of the injured women, aged between 15 and 40, were admitted to Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bachchu Mia, sub-inspector of DMCH police outpost, told The Daily Star.

Five of the victims were admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital (EMCH) in Savar, said, Mohsinul Qadir, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia Police Station.

The fire victims mostly sustained injuries in their faces and the respiratory systems, Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon at the Burn Unit of DMCH said. "Condition of the fire victims at the DMCH is very critical. They are suffering from 12 to 70 percent burn injuries."

Among them, seven were already shifted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Partha added. 

"The injured here at the EMCH are out of danger," said Suman Rahman, an assistant professor (surgery) at EMCH.

Bilkis, quoting her two sisters who were injured in the factory fire, said, the fire engulfed the tin roofed factory building after an explosion.

Her one sister, Lovely, 17, suffered 30 percent burns and another sister, Fatema, 15, 20 percent burns. Both of them joined work last month.

Their condition was stated to be critical.

Sonia Aktar, 20, another victim, said around 27 female workers were at work in the corridor where the fire originated.

“All of a sudden, a whirling flame engulfed the entire corridor and the wave of fire struck us,” she said.

All of them started running to escape, she said, adding that some of them could get out on their own while some others were rescued by male colleagues.   

At the time of the fire, more than 100 workers, including 15 male workers, were on duty at different sections of the factory.

Samarendra Nath Biswas, deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said that discarded gas lighters were staked in the two tin-roofed semi-concrete factories.  

No representative of the owner was available at the factory then, he added.