Dyeing factory staff go into hiding
At least 50 people fell sick due to toxic fumes from a dyeing factory on the ground floor of a six-storey residential structure made of tin sheets at Madhya Kunipara in the capital’s Tejgaon industrial area yesterday.
Of the sick people, 25 were rushed to local hospitals. Most of them were women and children.
Meanwhile, staff of the factory Maa Threads closed the facility and fled, as locals got furious over the incident.
More than 1,200 people live in the enormous wooden-framed structure that has 49 rooms on each floor. The building is situated at a densely populated locality and toxic fumes should not release there.
Witnesses said most of the victims are from the 21 rooms on the second floor. Some of the rescuers also fell sick while getting the trapped residents out.
A number of the victims said they felt sick as soon as the factory started emitting smoke yesterday around 6:30am.
Victim Hanufa Begum, 30, told The Daily Star that they had to inhale toxic fume from Tuesday evening but it took a severe turn the next morning. The victims fell to the ground following the inhalation and they complained of severe headache, she added.
During a visit to the building, sick people were found lying here and there in different rooms. Hundreds of locals also thronged the site.
Factory employee Shahjahan, who is also a resident of the building, said the factory resumed Sunday after a 10-day vacation and it has been running non-stop for the last two days.
Shukkur Kazi, security guard of the building, said the structure has recently been expanded to six storeys, which was earlier two-storey. The chimney for fume emission, however, remained two-storey high as it was in the beginning, which, Shukkur thinks, is the reason for the toxic reaction.
Kamal Patwary owns the dyeing factory while Jahirul Islam the building. Neither of them lives there.
Abul Kalam, sub-inspector of Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station, said the incident occurred due to unplanned set up of the factory in a highly populated residential building.
Police are looking for the owners of the factory and the building, added the SI.
