Mirpur fire: Who will answer?
According to the Fire Service, neither the warehouse nor the factory had any fire safety clearance or occupancy certificate
A fire in Shialbari area of Mirpur yesterday (14 October) has once again raised questions about safety, accountability, and negligence. The blaze, which started in an illegal chemical warehouse and quickly spread to an adjacent multistorey garment factory, killed at least 16 people, most of them workers. Several others were injured, many suffering burns and smoke inhalation.
According to the Fire Service, neither the warehouse nor the factory had any fire safety clearance or occupancy certificate. The chemical warehouse was operating illegally without a trade licence or approval from any authority.
Officials of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) told The Business Standard that they had no record of any chemical warehouse operating there. However, the adjacent garment factory was authorised by DIFE, though it too lacked the required fire safety clearance.
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Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion before flames engulfed the building. Rescue workers later discovered that the roof door of the garment factory was locked, trapping workers with no way out. Many of the victims died from suffocation after failing to escape through the narrow stairway.
Firefighters, police, the Army, and the Border Guard Bangladesh worked for hours to bring the fire under control. Even after the flames in the garment section were doused, the chemical warehouse continued burning because of the highly flammable materials stored inside, even after 24 hours. Officials said the site remained too dangerous to enter fully due to toxic fumes and the risk of further explosions.
Authorities have since tried to shift blame, with several agencies claiming they were unaware of the illegal warehouse's operation. Local residents, however, said the warehouse had been storing chemicals for years without any monitoring or inspection.
Such tragedies are not new in Bangladesh. The 2021 Rupganj factory fire killed 54 workers when the exits were locked. The 2019 Churihatta blaze in Old Dhaka claimed 71 lives, and the 2010 Nimtoli fire took 124 lives, both caused by unregulated chemical storage in residential areas. Each time, investigations were promised and safety drives announced, yet similar disasters continue to occur.
As Brigadier General (retd) Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah observed, no illegal chemical warehouse could operate if authorities fulfilled their duties.
Once again, after the flames and the funerals, the question remains: who will answer?
