Gazipur factory fire death toll rises to 8

The death toll from the fire originated from boiler explosions at a Gazipur factory on January 23, rose to eight with another victim succumbing to his injuries yesterday.

 The deceased was identified as Mohammad Swadhin, 35. 

He died around 5:00pm at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), according to the hospital sources.

Swadhin was admitted to the hospital with 58 percent burn injuries on January 24, a day after the fire killed five people, including a 40-year-old primary school teacher named Jebunnesa, who was walking along the factory at the time of the blast. 

Swadhin, a rickshaw-puller, got burnt as the fire started while he was passing by the factory riding his rickshaw, the sources added.  

Six others burnt, who were the workers of the factory, Smart Metal and Chemical, died on January 24 and 26 while they were undergoing treatment at DMCH.

The tin-roofed one-storey factory, which produced a "liquid substance" used for road carpeting by burning expired tyres, had no boundary walls and  authorization to operate, Gazipur Superintendent of Police Harun-ur-Rashid told journalists after the fire.