Another factory catches fire

L-R: Firefigthers try to douse the blaze at Swan Garments Ltd in the capital's Uttara yesterday. A photo shot yesterday morning shows flames still flicker at Tazreen Fashions Ltd that caught fire on Saturday. Photo: Star, Sk Enamul Haq

A day after the Ashulia fire tragedy that left an entire nation in a state of deep shock, another fire swept through a garment factory in a ten-storey building at Dakshin Khan in the capital's Uttara yesterday morning.
No casualty was reported in the incident as the factory workers managed to douse the fire with timely assistance from locals, some construction workers and fire fighters.
The building that housed two garment factories and a warehouse of another garment factory had inadequate fire extinguishing equipment, a narrow staircase and a locked fire exit.
The fire originated from the warehouse of Swan Garments Ltd on the 1st floor of Afnan Plaza at Mollartek around 9:30am. It was doused around 12:00 noon after hectic efforts by 13 fire fighting units.
Except for the second floor, the blaze could not spread through the building.
Some workers sustained minor injuries as they rushed to the main staircase to get out of the building. Bundles of threads and clothes kept in the warehouse were also gutted.
Workers and witnesses said some factory workers on the 4th and 5th floors of Sir Denim Ltd managed to go out of the building soon after the fire broke out.
But the rest of the workers on the upper floors could not come down the stairs as they were engulfed in thick smoke.
In a state of panic, some of them rushed to the rooftop of the building while others gathered on different floors and tried to break the windows in a desperate bid to find ways out of the building.
"Seeing thick black fumes, we came down to the third floor from different other floors. But the production manager prevented us from going out, saying nothing had happened," said Lavlu, a knitting operator of Mccoy Sweater Ltd situated on the 7th floor.
As the workers were running frantically to get out of the building, some construction workers from a nearby five-storey under-construction structure broke a window shield on the 6th floor using bamboo sticks.
The construction workers also laid a bamboo-made ladder on to the window from the rooftop of their building which helped the trapped garment workers climb down to the roof, said the workers.
"We were lucky that the incident did not take place in the evening or at night. Otherwise it could have been an incident like that of Ashulia," Lavlu added.
Talking to reporters, Abu Naim Mohammad Shahidullah, director general of fire service and civil defence, alleged that a generator, which had been kept beside the bundles of threads and clothes, might have caused the fire.