Armanitola fire: Another victim dies

Another person, who suffered burn injuries at the chemical warehouse fire in Armanitola of Old Dhaka, has died at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

Ashikuzzaman Khan Ashik died at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the institute around 10:45pm on Wednesday, confirmed his uncle Mizan and Ansar Commander Abdur Rauf.

With this, the death toll rose to six in the incident.

Also read - Armanitola fire: 5 more victims released from hospital

The fire that broke out in the early hours of Friday on the ground floor of a six-storey building named Haji Musa Mansion, left four people, including a woman, dead and 24 others, including three firemen, injured. Later, another victim died at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the institute on Sunday.

Ashikuzzaman’s newly married wife Muna Sarkar is also on life support while seven others are still undergoing treatment at the institute, said resident physician of the institute Dr Partha Sankar Pal.

Also read - Armanitola fire: Newlywed couple fighting for life

On Friday night, Bangshal police lodged a case in connection with the fire, stated Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahin Fakir.

The OC said seven to eight people, including the owner of the building Mostak Ahmed, were sued along with 15 to 20 unnamed others.

"They have been charged with causing the deaths through negligence and keeping illegal chemical substances in the building,” the OC added.

On Saturday, a Dhaka court fixed June 10 for the submission of an investigation report in the case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Begum Mahmuda Akhter accepted the statement of the case and fixed the date for submission of report.

Old Dhaka remains a ticking time bomb during fires because of illegal chemical warehouses, unplanned building construction, narrow roads and high population density.

In February 2019, a devastating fire at Wahed Mansion in the Churihatta area of Chawkbazar claimed 71 lives.

In June 2010, a deadly fire in Nimtoli took 124 lives.