A woman screams while being taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as at least 30 workers sustained burns in a gas-lighter factory fire at Ashulia in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon. — Sourav Lasker
At least 30 woman workers, mostly minor girls, received burn injuries as a gas-lighter factory caught fire at Zirabo under Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital Tuesday afternoon. Of them, seven critically injured were admitted to the intensive care unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital while five were admitted to the ICU at Enam Medical College Hospital, physicians said. Dhaka Export Processing Zone fire service senior station officer Abdul Hamid said the fire broke out at Colour Max Bd Limited around 4:30pm when about 100 workers were on duty in the tin-shed building. Injured 21 woman workers, 11 of them children, were admitted to Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital until 8:00pm with critical burn injuries, said the unit’s chief Professor Abul Kalam Azad. He said that though the patients received burns varying between 12 and 70 per cent, all the patients received burns in the respiratory system and, that was why all of them were considered to be major burns patients. Seven of the injured patients were immediately taken to intensive care unit, he informed. Five other injured patients, all aged between 13 and 27, were admitted to the ICU of Enam Medical College Hospital, hospital sources said. Officials at the fire service and civil defence headquarters in Dhaka said eight fire fighting units from Dhaka Export Processing Zone, Savar and Tongi immediately rushed to the spot after they received information from locals. They said that the fire fighters brought the situation under control about 6:15pm and the operation was continuing until 9:30pm. They, however, could not say the reason of the fire immediately. Locals said they saw flames of fire and heard sounds of exploding gas cylinders. A supervisor of the factory, Simu, 35, a resident of Zirabo, who had been on-duty in the room where the fire broke out, said that the girls were filling gas in the lighters when the explosion took place. ‘We always feel presence of gas in the air of the room where we work,’ she said, adding that more than 100 girls were working during the incident. She said that she was talking over mobile phone when she saw a spark, probably caused while setting a lighter-wheel, which might have caused the fire with a bang. Siddiqur Rahman, a manager of state-owned Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, said that security guards did not allow the Titas Gas men to enter the factory area after the incident. He said that the factory’s name was not found on the list of Titas Gas consumers. ‘We have suspended gas supply to the Zirabo area immediately after the incident to ensure safety of local people,’ he said. Workers said that the factory used to remain open from 8:00am to 9:00pm. The factory used to produce different brands of gas-lighters including Major, Boss, MaxLite, Army, Navy, Captain and Pilot, according to the web site of the factory. The lighters are used for lighting cigarettes, stoves, candles and other household works. The factory authorities could not be reached for comments immediately. – See more at: http://www.newagebd.net/article/3344/30-burnt-in-fire-at-ashulia-factory#sthash.BI6KDsUz.dpuf Source: New Age