Fire kills 26, prompts arrests of building owners in Bangladesh

A building fire in Dhaka.
A building fire is battled by firefighters in Dhaka. Photo credit: APTN

Two of the owners of a high-rise commercial building in Bangladesh that caught fire last week, killing 26 people in a blaze made worse by the lack of fire exits, have been arrested, Bangladesh police say.

Authorities say the 22-storey building structure lacked adequate safety measures and was extended illegally, raising fresh questions about safety standards in one of the world's most densely congested cities.

Seventy people were also injured in the blaze, in which at least seven people, including a Sri Lankan, died after jumping off the building located in an upscale area of the capital, Dhaka.

Lax regulations and poor enforcement have often been blamed for large fires in the South Asian nation that have killed hundreds of people in recent years, almost 100 in the past month alone.

Assistant police commissioner Abdul Baten told reporters that S.M.H.I. Faruq and Tasvirul Islam, who is a district leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), were arrested for negligence and violations of a national building code that resulted in casualties.

"It was a very painful incident. After an investigation, we will file a charge sheet in the court," he said, adding they could face murder charges.

Baten said police were also looking for the owner of the developers that constructed the building in the 1990s.

Helicopters joined 22 firefighting units in battling the blaze, along with police and armed forces, as some of those trapped in the building waved desperately for help from its windows and roof.

Foyzur Rahman, the head of an investigation team formed by the Ministry of Disaster Management, said testimony was being heard from survivors in an attempt to find the cause of the blaze.

Reuters.