02 Dec 00 - located next to India - capital city is Dhakar
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from www.dailystarnews.com (27Nov00)
Death toll 48: Most killed in suffocation, stampede Narsingdi tragedy - By Staff Correspondent
The death toll in the fire at a garment factory in Narsingdi rose to 48 yesterday while more than 100 injured employees were admitted to different hospitals.
Narsingdi police, however, said last night that number of employees killed in the incident of fire has risen to 38 yesterday and that they handed over bodies of 35 victims to the relatives until yesterday evening after autopsy at the Narsingdi Sadar Hospital.
The injured were admitted to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital, Bhairab Hospital, Bajitpur Hospital and different thana health complexes of the district. Five critically injured persons were shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday, sources said. Most of the 48 victims died of suffocation and in stampede while some others died while jumping from the building. Four of the victims were roasted alive, our correspondent reports.
Sources also said that most of the victims are teenage girls hailing from Kararchar, Gajaria, Patwarpar, Kamargaon and Charnagardi villages of Narsingdi, sources said.
The fire, believed to have originated from an electric short circuit on the third floor at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, engulfed a large number of cartoons containing garments of the four-storey Chowdhury Knitwear Ltd., which is situated near Kararchar along the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway under Shibpur thana
Nearly 650 employees were working on the second and third floor of the factory at the time of the incident. A thick column of smoke engulfed the inmates inside the building.
As soon as the news of fire spread among the employees, workers mostly from the second and third floor desperately scrambled to get out of the building through the main staircase that leads to emergency exit.
Our correspondent quoting firefighters reported that the collapsible gate to the main staircase on the first floor was locked from inside, preventing the workers from making exit.
A large number of workers died of suffocation while some others lost their lives in stampede at the narrow staircase and trying to jump from the building.
Though most of the workers managed to get out of the building, some 250 employees were trapped inside the burning factory when firefighters were frantically fighting to put out the flames.
Finally, firefighters with the help of local people broke open the collapsible gate on the first floor and recovered 41 dead bodies till early yesterday morning. Later, seven more dead bodies were recovered from inside the factory.
Meanwhile, a five-member inquiry committee headed by additional district magistrate Nazrul Islam was formed yesterday to probe the incident.
A regular case [police report - PS] was filed with Shibpur thana [?district police or district administrators?] in connection with the incident yesterday.
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There are 2 other Dhakar newspapers online in English - I think that I found them at www.newsdirectory.com
One of the newspapers reported that the fire department ran out of water while fighting the fire. The factory is located 60 kilometers East of Dhakar. One of the girls was carried to her home village where she died.
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Info from Bangladesh by Lonely Planet - 2000
Bangladesh is divided into 6 divisions. The 6 divisions are - Dhaka + Khulnat + Barisal + Rajshahi + Chittagong + Sylhet. The divisions are divided into districts - and the districts are divided into thanas. (There are 68,000 villages in Bangladesh) (Rajshahi Division is divided into 16 districts)
The city of Dhaka has a population of either 6 million or 12 million. There are no central emergency reporting telephone numbers. For an ambulance call either ICDDRB Hospital at 881 1751/2/3 or Holy Family Hospital at 831 1731/2/3. For the Fire department, call 955 5555. For the police, either call the Dhaka Metropolitan Police at 832 2501/2/3 or the Gulshan Police Station at 988 0234.
Chittagong is the 2nd largest city in Bangladesh with a population of 3 million.
Birth rates in Bangladesh have been dropping. The rural areas are not crowded at this time.
In Rajshahi, a fire station is located at Saheb Bazaar Road at Mahampur Road - there are at least 2 hospitals in the city
In Bogra, there is a fire station at Sherpur Road and Bhai Paglar Majar Lane
In Mymensingh, there is a fire station at Tangail Road at New Market Road
The fire station locations were shown on the city maps.
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Updated - 10Feb01 - info added from Lonely Planet 2000