Stays of the Gazi vehicle tyre manufacturing unit warehouse in Narayanganj, which continued to burn until 27 August 2024 | Picture credit score: Particular Association
On August 25, a serious hearth broke out at one of many largest tyre factories in Bangladesh, leading to a serious human tragedy. The Gazi vehicle tyre manufacturing unit in Rupshi, positioned within the industrial city of Narayanganj close to Dhaka, is owned by Golam Dastgir Gazi, chairman of the as soon as highly effective Gazi Group and well-known within the space.
The fortunes of the Gazi group started to alter with the autumn of the Hasina authorities on August 5. Mr. Gazi, who was Minister of Textiles and Jute underneath Ms. Hasina, was arrested on August 25. He had beforehand been in hiding.
A while after the information of Mr. Gazi’s arrest was broadcast, a big crowd gathered from close by areas and raided the principle warehouse in the back of the tire manufacturing unit which had many gadgets together with a big amount of flammable liquid substances.
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The precise dimension of the gang that invaded the five-story warehouse isn’t recognized. Based on retailer assistant Russel Hossein, who spoke to The HinduThe dimensions of the gang stuffed the whole staircase of the warehouse, indicating that there have been a number of hundred individuals who had proven as much as take the supplies in hopes of constructing some cash by promoting them on the close by scrap market.
“I noticed males, girls and even youngsters coming to take cables, rubber sheets and jerry cans stuffed with liquids,” mentioned Hossein, recalling the afternoon of August 25.
As folks entered the warehouse, a hearth broke out on the backside of the constructing, trapping everybody upstairs. “We stayed at a distance and it grew to become fully darkish when loud explosions have been heard contained in the warehouse. Nobody may escape. The fireplace unfold shortly,” Hossein mentioned. The irony was that store assistants and guards on the retailer, like Hossein, have been reportedly overwhelmed by the gang earlier than they entered the warehouse.
The information of the hearth on the Gazi automobile tyre manufacturing unit was broadcast on tv channels on the morning of 26 August as an assault by thugs on the premises owned by the Gazi group. Nevertheless, kin quickly started to appear outdoors the excessive gates of the manufacturing unit, making firefighters and district authorities realise that the hearth was extra than simply arson.
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Sharyar Apu arrived on the manufacturing unit on the night of August 25, mentioned his father Mohammed Umar Ali, who had been outdoors the power for greater than a day. Mr. Ali instructed The Hindu that these lacking should not staff of the Gazi group.
“He got here together with his buddies, they have been younger males,” Ali mentioned, explaining that her son had gone to the manufacturing unit like many others that afternoon with the intention of taking issues.
The multi-storey warehouse held sulphur, black coal and unknown chemical brokers that have been provided to different items of the Gazi group. Khadija Begum, like Mr Ali, wept as she recounted that her son-in-law had additionally arrived on the web site with the gang and had been lacking because the night of 25 August.
A few of the individuals who entered the Gazi tyre manufacturing unit on 25 August and have since been lacking made temporary cellphone calls, saying they have been surrounded by hearth and asking for assist. Nothing extra has been heard from them.
Hearth service officers and manufacturing unit guards who gathered The Hindu He mentioned the high-intensity blaze was fueled by industrial-grade chemical brokers that have been doubtless began attributable to careless dealing with by the mob that stormed the power after beating up guards and warehouse keepers.
As of Tuesday afternoon, authorities mentioned between 168 and 178 folks have been lacking within the hearth, although mourning kin outdoors the gate reported the actual quantity was a lot larger.
Mahmudul Haq, the district tax collector who was controlling the emotionally charged crowd, mentioned: “They actually rushed to commit suicide,” including that robust police surveillance may have prevented the tragedy.
