The High Court has set September 26 to give its decision on a writ petition filed seeking its directives on the authorities to provide sufficient compensations to the fire victims of Tampaco Foils Ltd at Tongi of Gazipur.
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das fixed the date Wednesday after concluding primary hearing on the petition.
Rights bodies Ain o Salish Kendra, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust moved the petition on Monday.
At least 35 people, mostly workers of the packaging factory, were killed and over 50 others injured in the fire that broke following explosions in the morning of September 10. Eleven others have still remained missing. Fire fighters struggled for hours to douse the blaze since the factory contained chemicals.
Also read: Famlies of missing workers brought for DNA tests
The government has already declared that the families of the deceased will get Tk2 lakh each and the injured a maximum Tk1 lakh as grants from the Labour Welfare Fund. Moreover, Tk20,000 will be given for the burial of the dead from the district administration.
It is considered as the country's worst industrial disaster since the Rana Plaza collapse at Savar in 2013 that killed at least 1,136 people. In 2012, over 110 workers were killed in a fire incident at Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia.
Top government officials and the police have blamed negligence of the owner for the incident.
Two cases have been filed – one by the father of a victim and the other by a police – against a number of people including the owner of the factory – former MP Syed Mokbul Hossain alias Lechu Mia.
More here: Another case filed over Tampaco factory fire
The petition prayed for the court's directives to provide treatment for the injured and directives on the government to identify and punish those responsible for the deadly fire. It also asked the court to seek an investigation report from the government.
The petitioners prayed to the court to freeze the bank accounts of the factory owners and distribute the money among the victims as compensation.
The district administration, Fire Service, Titas Gas, police, National Human Rights Commission and the Labour Ministry have formed separate committees to look into the incident.
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