It was a bomb waiting to go off

The Green Cozy Cottage Shopping Mall on the capital's Bailey Road had all the catalysts needed to set off a blaze.

Firefighters gave owners of the seven-storey building two warnings about the danger, but they still did not make safety arrangements.

There was no emergency exit. Neither was there permission for the seven restaurants.

"These buildings require approval of eight government agencies. Each of the agencies should be accused of murder by negligence," eminent architect Iqbal Habib told reporters in front of the fire-ravaged building yesterday.

As the inferno ripped through the building late at night on Thursday, some of the cooking gas tanks must have leaked and caused the flames to spread rapidly, investigators say.

Forty-six people including children lost their lives. Thirteen others are fighting for life with burn injuries.

The building, constructed by a developer firm, was handed to the owners in 2013. Defying the conditions set by the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), at least seven restaurants were running in it.

Rajuk Chief Town Planner Ashraful Islam said the building owners took their permission for a residential-cum commercial building in 2011.

There was permission to run offices, not restaurants, he told The Daily Star.

FIRE WARNING WENT UNHEEDED

On September 3 last year, Adhir Chandra Hawlader, a warehouse inspector of Fire Service and Civil Defence, wrote a letter to one of the owners of the building, detailing the fire hazards.

Two days later, Adhir served Sardar Mizanur Rahman, who owns the sixth and seventh floors, a notice asking him to make sure in 90 days that there are two unobstructed stairways and proper fire safety measures.

Mizanur, also managing director of the rooftop Ambrosia Restaurant and Music Café, then wrote to the fire service, stating that he would talk to the other owners and take the safety measures.

Since nothing was done, Adhir was preparing to issue another notice.

Adhir added that the letters were sent to Mizanur because of his substantial ownership stake.

The first letter sent to Mizanur mentioned the lack of fire alarms, pillar hydrants, smoke and heat detectors, emergency lights, and proper ventilation.

Most of the people who died were asphyxiated, experts said. 

Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, chief of the five-member probe body of the fire service, said, "We found 33 bodies at a restaurant on the first floor. The room had no window at all."

The letter sent to Mizanur mentioned that during an inspection, firefighters saw 16 extinguishers, but there was none at the generator room which was not properly isolated. Fire stoppers were also missing at crucial locations, and the only stairway was just four feet wide.

The building owners had neither a fire safety plan nor a no-objection-certificate from the fire service, Adhir said.

A fire safety plan means at least 20 percent of the workforce has training from the fire service and two fire drills are held every year.

The Daily Star could not reach Mizanur for comment, and the building manager's phone was unreachable.

THREE DETAINED

Police yesterday detained Anwarul Haque and Shafiqur Rahman, both owners of a cafe called Chumuk on the ground floor, and Jisan, the manager of Kachchi Bhai.

They have been detained for questioning, and action will be taken based on their responsibilities, said Mahid Uddin, additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The police will file a case over deaths caused by negligence. Anyone from the victims' families can also file a case, he added.

Of the eight children, 18 women and 20 men who died in the fire, 40 have been identified and 38 bodies have been handed over to the families.

Officials said DNA tests will be needed to identify the six other bodies.