The Labour and Employment Ministry on Thursday formed a five-member committee to investigate the fire incident at Keraniganj plastic factory that claimed lives of 13 people.
The committee headed by Additional Secretary to Labour and Employment Ministry Dr Jalal Uddin will dig out the cause of the incident and make recommendations to take legal action against those responsible for it, said a release of the Press Information Department (PID).
The probe body was also asked to identify the risk factors in the plastic factories of Keraniganj and recommend remedies for those.
Earlier, the death toll from the fire climbed to 13 after four more victims succumbed to their injures at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Eight of the injured died at the burn unit between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Talking to the reporters, Bachchu Mia, inspector of DMCH police outpost, said two victims, who suffered burns during the devastating fire, died at the hospital around 1110am.
One of the deceased was identified as Jahangir Hossain, 55. But the identity of the other could not be known immediately.
Those who succumbed to their injuries were primarily identified as the factory’s senior engineer Salauddin, 32, son of Abdus Salam Miah from Tangail and workers Mahbubul Haque, 25, son of Gulzar from Pirgacha in Rangpur; Zinarul Silam, 32, son of Matlab Mollah from Shalikha of Magura; Md Imran, 18, son of Md Ansar Hawlader from Kolapara of Patuakhali; Rayhan, 16, son of Yusuf Biswas from Narail Sadar, Abdul Khalek, 35, son of Ibrahim Khalifa from Bakerganj of Barishal; Babul, 26, son of Tofazzal Hossain from Belabo of Narsingdi, Alom, 35, son of Abdur Rashid from Sirajdikhan of Munshiganj, Sujan, 19, son of Khalil Hossain and Jahangir, 55, son of Nurul Islam of Keraniganj. The bodies were kept at the hospital morgue.
A deadly fire, sparked by a gas cylinder explosion at a factory in Hijaltola, killed a worker on the spot and injured 32 others on Wednesday. Firefighters recovered the charred body of Zakir Hossain, 25, from the factory. But immediacy after the incident, physicians and police hinted that the death toll will rise.
The injured were taken to the burn unit of DMCH. Meanwhile , Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday claimed that the factory owner is responsible for Keraniganj fire.
So he must pay compensations to the victim, he opined. He made these remarks while visiting the victims at the Burn unit of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the capital. He said most of the patients are very critical. Because only except two victims, all are sustaining fifty to hundred percent burn injuries, he stated.
Eleven patients have already been transferred to the Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery unit. If necessary, more victims will be shifted there, he continued.
Dr Samanta Lal Sen, Chief coordinator of Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute also said, it is the most dangerous incident of burn injuries he has seen in his life. As it was a plastic factory, the fire became deadly within a second.
