A fierce blaze ripped through a chemical warehouse and an adjoining garments factory in Dhaka’s Mirpur–Rupnagar area on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and leaving several others missing as grief-stricken families gathered at the site clutching photographs of their loved ones.
According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, the fire broke out around 11:40am and quickly engulfed a chemical storage facility belonging to Cosmic Pharma and an adjacent garments unit in Shialbari. Dense black smoke blanketed the neighbourhood, forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes.
“Five units were initially deployed, but as the fire spread rapidly, additional reinforcements were called in. At the peak, eight firefighting teams were engaged,” said Talha Bin Jasim, a station officer at the Fire Service’s media cell.
He said flames in the garments section were brought under control by early afternoon, but firefighters continued battling hotspots inside the warehouse for several hours amid fears of chemical explosions.
The victims could not be identified immediately.“There are six or seven dangerous chemicals in the warehouse, similar to those found in the Tongi warehouse. The exact contents remain unknown, heightening the risk,” said Fire Service Director Tajul Islam.
The cause of the fire—whether it began in the chemical godown or the garments section—remains under investigation, officials said.
Two workers, identified as Suruj, 30, and Mamun, 35, were rescued unconscious and taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS).
“Both suffered inhalation injuries, and one sustained minor burns,” said Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, a resident surgeon at NIBPS.
Fire officials said all nine bodies were recovered from the second and third floors of the garments factory, where workers were believed to have been trapped by toxic fumes. None of the victims had been identified as of Tuesday night.
As night fell, the fire scene remained cordoned off, with relatives waiting outside the charred building, weeping and calling the phones of their missing family members that rang unanswered.
“My daughter was working on the third floor. She called once, crying that smoke was everywhere—and then the line went dead,” said Nazma Begum, holding her daughter’s ID card in trembling hands.
Authorities could not confirm how many people were inside the building when the fire started. Police have cordoned off the area as a joint team from the CID and Fire Service’s investigation wing began collecting evidence from the debris.
Shocked relatives crowd the site, unable to reach missing loved ones even by phone
Firefighters warned that the illegal storage of industrial chemicals in a densely populated area may have worsened the disaster.
When rescuers finally broke through the reinforced shutters of the warehouse on Tuesday afternoon, thick plumes of toxic smoke were still rising from melted plastic drums and barrels of industrial solvents.
“It was like entering a furnace,” said one firefighter. “The fumes were so strong that we had to rotate teams every few minutes. There were chemicals stored everywhere—no ventilation, no safety signs.”
Officials said the warehouse stored flammable substances used in pharmaceuticals and textile dyeing, packed tightly alongside garments and other combustible materials. Fire Service investigators said the absence of a fire detection system, sprinklers, or emergency exits turned the multi-storey building into a death trap.
Residents said they had repeatedly warned authorities about the risks of the warehouse’s operations in their neighbourhood.
“We could smell the chemicals every night,” said Abdul Karim, a nearby resident. “We told the ward office, but nobody listened. Now nine people are dead.”
Locals alleged that the building, which housed both a garments factory and a chemical store, had been operating without zoning permission or environmental clearance.
An officer from Rupnagar Police Station said preliminary findings suggest Cosmic Pharma’s storage unit lacked fire safety licences, while the adjacent factory had only one staircase. “It was a disaster waiting to happen,” he said.
The tragedy has once again laid bare Dhaka’s chronic failure to enforce fire safety regulations in small and medium-sized industries that operate within residential areas.
Over the past decade, a series of deadly fires—from Nimtoli in 2010 and Churihatta in 2019 to Bangabazar in 2023—have claimed hundreds of lives, many linked to illegal chemical storage. Despite repeated pledges, enforcement remains weak, with overlapping jurisdictions between city corporations, RAJUK, and the Fire Service obstructing meaningful reform.
A senior Fire Service official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Every time we respond to one of these fires, we issue warnings and recommendations. But after a few weeks, business goes on as usual. There’s no accountability.”
By Tuesday evening, relatives of missing workers continued to wait outside the Dhaka Medical College morgue for identification of the charred remains. Authorities said DNA testing may be necessary to confirm their identities.
“We don’t want compensation; we want punishment for those responsible,” said Sajeda Begum, whose nephew worked in the garments section.
The Dhaka North City Corporation said a joint inspection committee would begin a safety audit of warehouses and small factories in the Mirpur area starting Wednesday.
As investigators sifted through the blackened debris under floodlights late into the night, a firefighter summed up the mood grimly: “Nothing will change unless chemical warehouses are banned from residential buildings. Otherwise, we’ll be back here again.”
Workers overcome by toxic fumes
Workers remained trapped inside a Mirpur factory as a raging chemical fire filled the building with toxic fumes on Tuesday, leaving many unable to flee before being overcome by the smoke.
Fire Service officials at the scene said the flames that started in a nearby chemical warehouse quickly spread through a narrow alley to the lower floors of the adjoining four-storey garment factory. Workers were unable to evacuate downward, and locked doors on the rooftop blocked any chance of escape upward.
Rescuers suspect that those working on the upper floors were rendered unconscious by the fumes before the fire consumed the upper levels, reducing them to ashes.
By evening, firefighters had recovered 16 bodies, all from the factory’s second and third floors.
Standing amid the charred ruins around 7:15pm, Fire Service Director Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said preliminary findings pointed to multiple safety lapses.
“The four-storey garment factory has a tin roof with a grilled access door that was locked, preventing workers from escaping to the top,” he said.
“You can imagine the scale of the chemical explosion—flashover and toxic gases spread instantly. They lost consciousness before they could move, neither up nor down.”
He added that the blaze at the chemical warehouse was still not fully under control, fuelling fears of further casualties.
Tajul confirmed that neither the garment factory nor the chemical warehouse had fire safety clearance, evacuation plans, or official approval to operate.
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A fierce blaze ripped through a chemical warehouse and an adjoining garments factory in Dhaka’s Mirpur–Rupnagar area on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and leaving several others missing as grief-stricken families gathered at the site clutching photographs of their loved ones.
According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, the fire broke out around 11:40am and quickly engulfed a chemical storage facility belonging to Cosmic Pharma and an adjacent garments unit in Shialbari. Dense black smoke blanketed the neighbourhood, forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes.
“Five units were initially deployed, but as the fire spread rapidly, additional reinforcements were called in. At the peak, eight firefighting teams were engaged,” said Talha Bin Jasim, a station officer at the Fire Service’s media cell.
He said flames in the garments section were brought under control by early afternoon, but firefighters continued battling hotspots inside the warehouse for several hours amid fears of chemical explosions.
The victims could not be identified immediately.“There are six or seven dangerous chemicals in the warehouse, similar to those found in the Tongi warehouse. The exact contents remain unknown, heightening the risk,” said Fire Service Director Tajul Islam.
The cause of the fire—whether it began in the chemical godown or the garments section—remains under investigation, officials said.
Two workers, identified as Suruj, 30, and Mamun, 35, were rescued unconscious and taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS).
“Both suffered inhalation injuries, and one sustained minor burns,” said Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, a resident surgeon at NIBPS.
Fire officials said all nine bodies were recovered from the second and third floors of the garments factory, where workers were believed to have been trapped by toxic fumes. None of the victims had been identified as of Tuesday night.
As night fell, the fire scene remained cordoned off, with relatives waiting outside the charred building, weeping and calling the phones of their missing family members that rang unanswered.
“My daughter was working on the third floor. She called once, crying that smoke was everywhere—and then the line went dead,” said Nazma Begum, holding her daughter’s ID card in trembling hands.
Authorities could not confirm how many people were inside the building when the fire started. Police have cordoned off the area as a joint team from the CID and Fire Service’s investigation wing began collecting evidence from the debris.
Shocked relatives crowd the site, unable to reach missing loved ones even by phone
Firefighters warned that the illegal storage of industrial chemicals in a densely populated area may have worsened the disaster.
When rescuers finally broke through the reinforced shutters of the warehouse on Tuesday afternoon, thick plumes of toxic smoke were still rising from melted plastic drums and barrels of industrial solvents.
“It was like entering a furnace,” said one firefighter. “The fumes were so strong that we had to rotate teams every few minutes. There were chemicals stored everywhere—no ventilation, no safety signs.”
Officials said the warehouse stored flammable substances used in pharmaceuticals and textile dyeing, packed tightly alongside garments and other combustible materials. Fire Service investigators said the absence of a fire detection system, sprinklers, or emergency exits turned the multi-storey building into a death trap.
Residents said they had repeatedly warned authorities about the risks of the warehouse’s operations in their neighbourhood.
“We could smell the chemicals every night,” said Abdul Karim, a nearby resident. “We told the ward office, but nobody listened. Now nine people are dead.”
Locals alleged that the building, which housed both a garments factory and a chemical store, had been operating without zoning permission or environmental clearance.
An officer from Rupnagar Police Station said preliminary findings suggest Cosmic Pharma’s storage unit lacked fire safety licences, while the adjacent factory had only one staircase. “It was a disaster waiting to happen,” he said.
The tragedy has once again laid bare Dhaka’s chronic failure to enforce fire safety regulations in small and medium-sized industries that operate within residential areas.
Over the past decade, a series of deadly fires—from Nimtoli in 2010 and Churihatta in 2019 to Bangabazar in 2023—have claimed hundreds of lives, many linked to illegal chemical storage. Despite repeated pledges, enforcement remains weak, with overlapping jurisdictions between city corporations, RAJUK, and the Fire Service obstructing meaningful reform.
A senior Fire Service official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Every time we respond to one of these fires, we issue warnings and recommendations. But after a few weeks, business goes on as usual. There’s no accountability.”
By Tuesday evening, relatives of missing workers continued to wait outside the Dhaka Medical College morgue for identification of the charred remains. Authorities said DNA testing may be necessary to confirm their identities.
“We don’t want compensation; we want punishment for those responsible,” said Sajeda Begum, whose nephew worked in the garments section.
The Dhaka North City Corporation said a joint inspection committee would begin a safety audit of warehouses and small factories in the Mirpur area starting Wednesday.
As investigators sifted through the blackened debris under floodlights late into the night, a firefighter summed up the mood grimly: “Nothing will change unless chemical warehouses are banned from residential buildings. Otherwise, we’ll be back here again.”
Workers overcome by toxic fumes
Workers remained trapped inside a Mirpur factory as a raging chemical fire filled the building with toxic fumes on Tuesday, leaving many unable to flee before being overcome by the smoke.
Fire Service officials at the scene said the flames that started in a nearby chemical warehouse quickly spread through a narrow alley to the lower floors of the adjoining four-storey garment factory. Workers were unable to evacuate downward, and locked doors on the rooftop blocked any chance of escape upward.
Rescuers suspect that those working on the upper floors were rendered unconscious by the fumes before the fire consumed the upper levels, reducing them to ashes.
By evening, firefighters had recovered 16 bodies, all from the factory’s second and third floors.
Standing amid the charred ruins around 7:15pm, Fire Service Director Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury said preliminary findings pointed to multiple safety lapses.
“The four-storey garment factory has a tin roof with a grilled access door that was locked, preventing workers from escaping to the top,” he said.
“You can imagine the scale of the chemical explosion—flashover and toxic gases spread instantly. They lost consciousness before they could move, neither up nor down.”
He added that the blaze at the chemical warehouse was still not fully under control, fuelling fears of further casualties.
Tajul confirmed that neither the garment factory nor the chemical warehouse had fire safety clearance, evacuation plans, or official approval to operate.
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