DSCC starts removing illegally stored chemical from Wahed Manzil

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) authority has begun to remove a substantial amount of illegally stored chemicals from the basement of the Hajji Wahed Manzil building.

The building took the heaviest toll in the devastating fire at Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar on Wednesday night.

DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon announced that this was the start of the removal of chemical warehouses and factories from Old Dhaka.

Stern actions will be taken against anyone found to be storing chemicals illegally in their home, he added.

The mayor inspected the Hajji Wahed Manzil building storage site during a visit to the area on Saturday afternoon. Two trucks then began removing the goods in two phases, according to a bdnews24.com report.

Chawkbazar police Inspector Md Murad said the chemicals were being moved to the Keraniganj Jhilmil Project area under the supervision of the city corporation.

The mayor requested anyone with information regarding buildings used to store chemicals to inform the city corporation, their local councillors or the police.

A CCTV video showed that the fire started from a car’s gas cylinder, the mayor said.

The massive blaze at Chawkbazar’s Churihatti intersection has taken 67 lives so far. Nine of the injured are being treated at the Dhaka Medical Burn Unit several and are in poor condition.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire started after a gas cylinder on a pickup truck exploded at the intersection. The fire then spread to five nearby buildings, including the Hajji Wahed Manzil building.

Fire service officials believe the fire was further stoked by the combustible chemicals, plastics and cosmetics at nearby stores and warehouses.

The fire gutted the bottom two floors of the Hajji Wahed Manzil building, tearing through the dozen or so stores on the ground floor and the perfume and plastic materials warehouse on the second storey.