One year of gazi tyres tragedy: No closure yet for the families

One year after the devastating fire at Gazi Tyres factory in Narayanganj, the fate of at least 182 missing people remains unknown, while their families still await answers from the authorities.

Among them is 55-year-old Hormuza Begum, whose 22-year-old son, Abdur Rahman, is still missing.

Rahman, a power-loom worker, ventured into the factory in Rupganj area on August 25 last year when it was set ablaze after looting.

"My son went to the factory with some of our neighbours. Not a single one returned home," said Hormuza, who is now grappling with yet another tragedy -- the death of her rickshaw-puller husband five months ago.

"I think my son died in the fire. I don't blame anyone. My only regret is that I never saw his body. His father died from grief, and I'm dying a slow death," she said.

Over the past year, the relatives of the missing people have approached the district administration many times to get answers, but to no avail.

The last search inside the charred six-storey factory building was conducted on August 29 last year, a day before firefighters finally doused the flames. Since then, neither the police nor the fire service has conducted any further searches of the premises.

In September last year, a government probe body recommended conducting a search operation after removing the damaged structure. However, the authorities have yet to take any action.

Contacted on August 21, Mohammad Zahidul Islam Miah, who took charge as the deputy commissioner of Narayanganj this January, said, "I cannot say anything about the probe report … The families of the missing ones have approached us multiple times. They also submitted a petition, which I forwarded to the police for action.

"We asked police to investigate. Hopefully, there will be an update soon."

Mehedi Islam, senior assistant superintendent of police in Narayanganj, said police are acting on the list of 182 missing people provided by the district administration.

"We have been tracking their last locations based on mobile phone numbers," he told The Daily Star on August 19, adding that police will come up with a report as soon as possible.

Talking to this correspondent on Saturday, Mohammad Osman Gani, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence (Zone-2), said, "No further search operations have been conducted there [after August 29 last year]. We have not received any instructions regarding this."

Seeking anonymity, a senior official of Gazi Group said, "Our own security personnel are guarding the factory premises. The six-storey building, which lies in ruins, has been off limits to all since a BUET expert team declared it risky on August 29 last year.

"Nothing can be done there without clearance from all the authorities concerned, including the district administration and the fire service," added the official.

According to the probe body's findings, Gazi Tyres factory housing multiple structures on a 26.72-acre area saw the first phase of looting and arson attacks on August 5, the day the Awami League regime fell following a mass uprising.

The looting continued till August 8 amid a fragile law and order situation. No casualties were reported during that period.

Following the arrest of factory owner and ex-minister Golam Dastagir Gazi on August 25, the establishment saw a second wave of looting and arson attacks. At least 182 people went missing as a blaze engulfed the six-storey building. The flames raged for five days before firefighters managed to put it out.

STILL LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

This correspondent visited the homes of 22 missing people and spoke to their relatives, who expressed dismay at the authorities' indifference to tracing their loved ones.

One of them is Rashida Begum whose only child, 21-year-old Aman Ullah, a worker at a battery factory, was last seen entering the premises of Gazi Tyres on August 25 last year.

"My husband has been bedridden for 10 years after suffering a stroke. It was my son who ran the household.

"Will I never get the chance to see my boy one last time?" she asked.

Like her, Farzana, wife of a missing 27-year-old textile mill worker, is looking for answers.

"I approached whoever I could -- the SP, the DC, and even army members. But no one could say whether my husband Arif is still alive or dead," said Farzana who now has to care for their two sons -- seven-year-old Ayan and 18-month-old Naim Hasan -- entirely on her own.

Truck driver Nur Hossain went missing on August 25 night after he, along with his brother-in-law Russell, entered the factory compound.

Nur's wife Parveen Begum, a mother of three, now struggles to make ends meet.

"After waiting for a year, I now only want a death certificate so that I can at least get a widow allowance," she said.

Among the missing people are two brothers, Sabbir and Shahadat Shikder, who used to work as electricians.

Their mother, Nurunnahar, now desperately seeks closure. "For the past year, everyone asked me to be patient. But my patience has run out," she said.

GOVERNMENT PROBE

The local administration formed an eight-member probe committee on August 27, two days after the blaze.

In its report submitted to the deputy commissioner on September 12, the probe body said several structures inside the factory compound were set afire on August 5 last year and looting continued for four days.

The report noted that if law enforcement and intelligence agencies had taken steps to ensure security at the factory after the August 5 incident, it would have been possible to avert the devastating fire about three weeks later.

It mentioned that when a group of intruders went to the fourth and fifth floors of the six-storey building to loot copper and chemicals stored there, another group of intruders locked the gate on the ground floor, started a fire and left. The fire spread quickly as flammable substances were stored in the building.

On September 1, the committee held a public hearing, attended by family members of around 80 missing people, in front of the factory. At one point of the hearing, they forcefully entered the factory, defying restrictions, and recovered some bones and skulls that were later handed over to police.

Asked, Superintendent of Police Protyush Kumar Majumder said the bones and skulls were sent to CID's forensic division for tests.

"We have not yet received any updates from the CID," he said.