A worker was killed and seven others injured in a fire that broke out in a shoe factory at Islambagh of Chakbazar in the capital’s old part on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Sabbir, 22, a worker of Shikder Shoe Factory.
The injured workers Dipu, 14, Sentu, Sharif, Uzzal, Rubel, Shohel and Babu were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Two of them were in critical condition, a medical officer at the hospital MA Hamid said.
Fire service control room official Abdul Khaleq said
that the fire originated from a chemical reaction at Shikder Shoe Factory owned by one Murad Miah at about 4:45pm.
An electric short-circuit was also occurred at that time in a room of the factory housed in the second floor of the building at West Islambagh, the fire service official said.
The fire immediately engulfed the room, leaving one Sabbir killed on the spot and seven injured, although locals doused the blaze in a few minutes, he said.
The police, however, suspected that the fire could originate from a welding workshop near the factory on the second floor.
‘The welding flakes might have fallen into chemical causing the blaze’, Chakbazar police sub-inspector Anwar Hossain told New Age.
Nurul Haque, a worker of the factory, said that the factory’s electric lines were in a bad condition. He said that another short-circuit occurred two weeks ago in the factory but the owner Murad Miah did not change the wires despite requests from the workers.