Shezan Juice factory fire: Reasons that led to the catastrophe
Many parts of the factory were locked which might have caused the fire to spread quickly and kill so many people
It becomes clear that the workers were left with no chance in face of the raging inferno at the Shezan Juice factory in Rupganj, Narayanganj on Thursday.
Fire service officials, experts and relatives of the victims pointed out a number of reasons for the blaze that claimed more than 50 lives.
Experts said the absence of proper fire safety measures and not following the government's fire safety instructions were the main reasons behind the deadly fire.
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"The stairs were not enough. There were only two stairways inside such a big factory, while there should have been at least four to six stairs for the emergency exit," Debashish Bardhan, Deputy Director (operations and maintenance) of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Business Standard.
Many parts of the factory were locked which might have caused the fire to spread quickly and kill so many people. The factory management locked the floor gates to bar the employees from stealing the lollipops and juices they produced.
Fire officials said the workers may have had a chance at escape if the management had not implemented the medieval practice of locking the gates of the factory floors.
In their cruellest attempt, the factory authorities confined the workers on the second floor for more than two hours after the fire had broken out around 5pm Thursday.
Rozina, a 17-year-old worker at the factory who survived the accident, said more workers could have survived if they had not been kept confined after the fire originated.
On the other hand, the roof could be a safe refuge if it was not so cruelly blocked off behind steel barriers.
A fire official, Emon, said all lives could have been saved had the workers been allowed access to the roof.
"We rescued 25 people from the roof on the first day. Had more been allowed, more lives would have been saved," he said.
The workers also tried to escape through the windows but failed as those were covered with grills.
"At first, we went to the stairs but those were engulfed by the deadly fire. Then we tried to jump off the windows but those were also blocked with grills and nets," survivor Rozina said.
"This is just like the Tajrin fire," Emon said.
Besides, the haphazard or careless arrangements of the factory floor are also to be blamed for the dangerous fire at the juice factory.
According to the fire department, the blaze was further fuelled by combustible items such as ghee, butter, oil and plastic bags stored on each floor.
Fire department official Debashish Bardhan said, "We found that combustible items and some chemicals were stored on different floors, which might have turned the whole factory into a death trap."
Police have brought charges of murders and attempts to murder against Sajeeb Group Chairman Md Abul Hashem, his four sons and three factory officials over the deaths of 52 workers in Thursday's fire.
MA Hashem and his sons were picked up from their Gulshan residence in the capital. Later police showed them arrested in the case filed over the fire incident.
Afterwards, the Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate Court issued a four-day remand against Hashem and seven others each over the deadly fire at a Narayanganj factory.
