Dhaka, Sept 13 – A fire broke out at Minister Refrigerator factory, a sister concern of My One Group at Dheerashrom area in Gazipur city at around 7 am on Friday. The fire originated from a warehouse at 5th floor of 6 storied building of Minister Hi-tech Park limited. 18 fire fighting units from Joydevpur, Tongi and Uttara rushed to the spot and they were trying to douse the blaze. They were able to take control of the flame at around 01.30 pm. Mamunur Rashid, assistant deputy director of Gazipur fire service said, the fire originated from a warehouse at 5th floor of the six-storey building and quickly it spread to others floors of the building. But the reason behind the incident could not be known immediately. The 5th and 4th floors of the building were burnt. There were Inflammable substances on those floors as we are not able to take under control the fire. Besides, there was no necessary preparedness to fight the fire. We collected water from the source of nearby Markware Limited factory. However, no casualties were reported in the incident.
Mohammed Motalib Mia, assistant inspector general of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment, said, “This factory didn’t carry out fire drills regularly. Having a warehouse on the sixth floor is also against regulations.”
He said we had sent the authorities a notice around 20 to 25 days ago over their failure to install fire alarms and adequate safety equipment in the factory. But they didn’t respond to it. As a result, the factory inspection department will take appropriate measures against them.”
Head of media of the factory KMG Kibria said different electronics home appliance products were stored in the 5th floor. But he could not give any idea about the total amount of the products stored here.
Deputy General Manager (Accounts and Finance) of Minister Hi-tech Park Limited Rafiqul Islam said, about 2000 employees work in the factory, but the factory remained closed on Friday. He said refrigerators, televisions, rice cooker, Irons and other electronics products produce in the factory and the final products keep in a warehouse on the 5th floor.
Chairman of My One electronics and Minister Hi-tech Park Limited M A Razzak Khan avoided the questions of journalists on the issue of fire safety measures in the building but said, “Factory operations were closed at the time. We don’t know how the fire broke out on the 5th floor.”
Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur S.M. Tariqul Islam said a 7 members committee was formed led by acting additional district magistrate Shafiulla to probe the incident. The committee was asked to submit the report within seven working days.
However, mayor of Gazipur city corporation advocate Mohammed Jahangir Alma, parliament member of woman reserved seats Shamsunnahar Bunyan; deputy commissioner of Gazipur S.M. Tarikul Islam, police commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan police Anowar Hossain visited the spot. – Staff Reporter
