Ctg EPZ factory inferno: How did all 1,050 workers, employees evacuate unharmed?
A massive fire that engulfed the seven-storey Adams Caps and Textile Limited factory, in Zone 5 of the Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ), has been raging for over five hours. Yet, all workers managed to evacuate unharmed.
The factory employs about 1,050 workers, according to CEPZ Additional Executive Director Asheq Mohammad Shahadat Hossain, who confirmed that everyone was safely evacuated after the fire alarm went off.
"All workers, officers, and employees were able to evacuate the premises immediately after the alarm sounded," he told The Business Standard earlier this evening (16 October).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
BEPZA sources had also confirmed the safe evacuation, adding that fire service teams acted promptly to secure the surrounding area.
By 6:30pm, people from nearby factories had been evacuated, and an area within a few hundred meters of the site was cleared as the entire building continued to burn.
A security guard from a neighbouring factory said production at Adams Caps and Textile was limited to the fourth floor, while the upper floors were used as a warehouse.
"At first, we saw the fire and informed the factory workers, who then notified their supervisor. All the workers evacuated safely," he told TBS.
As the fire continued to rage, fire service units, along with teams from the Bangladesh Air Force and Navy, worked to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby buildings.
"There were chemicals stored inside the factory, as well as medical gowns and towels," said Asheq Mohammad Shahadat Hossain around 8:15pm, noting that the situation remained critical.
A few hundred yards behind Adams Caps and Textile stands another factory under the same ownership, Al Hamidi.
Around 7:00pm, workers were seen loading goods onto large vans to move them away from the fire.
"The flames were getting closer, so we started removing the goods," said Khokon Mesturi, a security guard at the factory.
As of filing this report, firefighting operations were still underway, with authorities striving to contain the blaze and prevent further damage.
