Sea winds fuelled Cox's Bazar resort fire; no extinguishers, alarms on site: Fire service
A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the cause of the blaze.
Strong sea winds caused a fire to spread quickly through the two-storey wooden building at Tuptup Resto and Resort at Inani in Cox's Bazar, while the establishment lacked fire extinguishers, fire alarms, and a fire safety plan, according to the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Making the aforementioned observation, Toufiqul Islam Bhuiyan, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence's Chattogram division, this afternoon (17 October) said such establishments should have portable fire extinguishers, fire alarms, and a fire safety plan, reports Prothom Alo.
He also said such establishments should have these basic fire-safety provisions, but none were available at this resort in the Patuartek beach area along Marine Drive. It also lacked a fire safety licence.
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The fire broke out around 7am. Toufiqul said Cox's Bazar Fire Service received information at 7:23am today and firefighters reached the scene around 8am. They brought the fire under control at 8:15am.
Four people were found dead inside two toilets on the second floor of the resort, he said.
Locals also helped with rescue efforts and attempts to extinguish the fire, with support from police, Bangladesh Border Guard, and Bangladesh Coast Guard.
The resort had been built only seven to eight months earlier, Toufiqul said. He also noted that there was reportedly a dispute over ownership of the land.
The district's Deputy Commissioner A Mannan said that the fire was initially believed to have started at the kitchen stove. But it could not be confirmed immediately.
A five-member investigation committee has been formed to look into the incident, including determining the cause of the fire, which was fully doused around 11am.
So far, 10 bodies have been recovered from the destroyed resort and six injured have been hospitalised.
Seven of the deceased were identified by this afternoon. Authorities fear the death toll may rise as rescue operations continue.
Police detained resort manager Mohammad Suman for questioning after the incident.
