At least five people, including four members of the fire service and civil defence, sustained burn injuries while trying to douse a fire that broke out at a chemical warehouse in Tongi of Gazipur Monday afternoon.
The fire originated at around 4:30pm at the Famous Chemical warehouse in Sahara Market near the new BSCIC rail gate, where chemicals used in readymade garment factories were stored, witnesses said.
The injured firefighters are station officer Jannatul Nayeem, and firefighters Shamim, Nurul Huda, and Joy Hasan. A local shopkeeper, Babu, 20, was also injured.
They were initially rushed to Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital in Tongi and later four injured firefighters transferred to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.
Four fire service personnel were undergoing treatment at the burn institute, two with cent per cent burn wounds and one with 42 per cent, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported.
鈥楾hree firemen are now in critical condition, two with 100 per cent and one with 42 per cent burn injuries,鈥� resident surgeon of the burn institute Shawon Bin Rahman told BSS Monday night.聽
Firefighters Shamim, 42, and Nurul Huda, 40, suffered 100 per cent burn injuries while fire officer Nayem, 35, sustained 42 per cent burn wounds and firefighter Joy, 24, received 5 per cent burn injuries, he said.聽
Director general of the fire brigade and civil defence Brigadier General Muhammad Jahed Kamal visited the injured fire service personnel at the NIBPS.
Deputy assistant director of fire service Abdul Mannan said that during efforts to douse the fire, one officer and three firefighters sustained burns following explosions inside the warehouse.
Locals first noticed smoke billowing from the warehouse and tried to control the flames. Soon after, three units of Tongi fire service arrived, but a series of explosions from chemical drums left the firefighters injured.
As the fire spread, four more units from Uttara and Kurmitola joined the operation. After nearly an hour of frantic effort, seven fire-fighting units brought the blaze under control at around 5:30pm.
