Six-storey building collapses on 2 others
Ten injured
A six-storey building collapses on two adjoining buildings on Kailash Gosh Lane in Old Dhaka yesterday as it was being demolished for construction of a new one by unskilled and inefficient workers. Inset, Residents trapped in one of the two affected buildings being evacuated by fire fighters.Photo: STAR
A six-storey building, which was being demolished for construction of a new one, collapsed on two adjoining three-storey buildings in Old Dhaka yesterday, badly damaging the buildings, trapping people inside them, and injuring 10 residents. Around 30 trapped people, 10 of them injured, were rescued by fire fighters, police and a team of Bangladesh Army in cooperation with locals. Fire officials declared one of the affected buildings too risky to live in and asked its residents not to enter it. The roofs of the affected buildings no-18 and 19 were severely damaged and several cracks were found on their walls, while entrances of the building no-18 got blocked. Engineers and fire fighters said the six-storey building on Kailash Ghosh Lane broke down due to demolition by unskilled and inefficient day labourers and that too in an unplanned way. A fire service official Monir Hossain said the north portion of the six-storey building was demolished leaving the southern portion intact, which created an imbalance and caused the collapse. "We had to rescue 27 trapped people by cutting the windows on the southern part of the building no-18." Nokul Dhar, a trapped victim of the building no-18, said, "It was around 8:30am. It seemed to be an earthquake as I felt a heavy jerk, heard a big bang, and saw a cloud of dust circling around me." He said he got panicked and tried to run out, but it was not possible as the room was too dark and the door was blocked. According to locals, the six-storey building aged around 30 to 35 years is owned by Fazle Elahi Mohan, who identifies himself as a ruling party man. He gave the building to a developer for construction of a new one there, they added. However, Sheikh Abdul Mannan, an official of Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), told The Daily Star that neither the land owner nor any developer company did take their approval for demolishing the old building or constructing a new one. "Even, the building was being demolished without taking any safety measures." Harun-ur-Rashid, deputy commissioner of Lalbagh division police, said both the land owner and the developer company officials had remained missing since the collapse. No case was filed in this connection. Meanwhile, Dhaka South City Corporation formed an eight-member committee to find the cause of the collapse and a six-member technical committee to carry out the removal of the ruins for easing public movement in the area.
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