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Gas Lighter Factory Fire Kills Five Near Dhaka
5 Apr
Summary
- A fire at a gas lighter factory in Keraniganj killed at least five people.
- Seven firefighting units controlled the blaze within two hours of the incident.
- The factory's tin-shed construction offered little resistance to the fast-moving fire.
Tragedy struck Keraniganj, an industrial hub on the outskirts of Dhaka, on Saturday afternoon when a fire engulfed a gas lighter factory, claiming at least five lives. The Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence confirmed the fatalities, with the recovered bodies being too severely burned for immediate identification. Search operations continued as the investigation into the fire's origin commenced.
Seven firefighting units were dispatched and managed to bring the destructive blaze under control within two hours of its initial report. The low-rise, tin-shed structure of the factory, typical for industrial areas around Dhaka, proved inadequate against the rapidly spreading flames. This incident underscores the persistent challenges Bangladesh faces with industrial fire safety.
Keraniganj has experienced growth in manufacturing and chemical industries, partly due to government initiatives to move hazardous operations away from densely populated zones. This relocation effort gained momentum after a catastrophic 2010 chemical warehouse fire in Nimtoli killed 124 people. A planned chemical industrial park for the area was relocated to Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj due to space limitations and is still under construction.
