Fire ; Life and Loss
Fire : Life and Loss
The fire broke out at the second floor of the
11-storey building from electric short circuit,
trapping hundreds of people and forcing two private
television channels to abruptly suspend their
transmission. As the flame grew in intensity and a
plume of smoke engulfed the entire building,
panic-stricken people from different offices,
including the television channels and the Bangla daily
Amar Desh, tried to escape from the building in
whatever manner they could.
Troops were called in aid of the fire fighters to
rescue the people who went to take shelter on the
rooftop of the building that also houses a Bengali
daily and several banks and business offices. Three
helicopters were also pressed into operation to
evacuate the trapped people.There were 2,000 people
working in the building, according to a report.
Twenty-five fire-fighting units from different fire
stations and worked frantically for more than six
hours to bring the fire under control. They were
assisted by the army, the navy, the Rapid Action
Battalion, the Bangladesh Rifles and the police.The
fire-fighters used retractable ladders to rescue the
trapped people. Some of them were seen trying to come
down using ropes and telephone wires and cables.
Fires at the slums are more vulnerable because of the
situations there. They loose everything if fire breaks
out by short circuit or from a burning stove. They
don’t have bank account or safety lockers for
emergency survival as the middle class people of the
society. They live on hand to mouth and rarely get
full support after any fire accidents.
There are a number of fire accidents every year in the
country causing huge amount of assets destruction,
homelessness, deaths and injuries. Fire fighters try
their best to do the rescue jobs with their limited
equipment and training although there are lots of
violation of building codes and lack of safety
measures within the institution. In my photo story, I
tried to include many layers of the rescue workers and
the victims to show the contrast of life and loss.
Abir Abdullah
Dhaka, Bangladesh
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By Abir Abdullah on 2007-02-26 00:24:58