A student was killed yesterday as a brick fell on his head from an under-construction multi-storey building on Panthapath in the capital.
Habibur Rahman Munna, 18, an HSC examinee of Tejgaon College, died on the spot at around 12:30pm as the brick fell on his head from the 10th floor of under-construction 15-storey Sagupta De Khan, a construction site of Sagupta Group.
He was returning home on foot after attending his ailing mother admitted to a hospital on Panthapath.
Son of businessman Abu Kalam of East Tejturibazar, Munna fell victim to the neglect of the construction authorities, who took no safety measures although the site is situated in a busy place.
Locals said a worker of the same construction site died two months ago after he fell from the building in absence of necessary safety measures.
In protest against Munna’s death, angry locals ransacked the ground floor of the building. Police also detained six construction workers from the spot.
Witness Monirul Islam, a resident of Panthapath, told The Daily Star, “Soon after the brick hit the victim, he skidded off the footpath and fell on bamboos of the construction site. His head was profusely bleeding. Locals later rushed him to nearby Samarita Hospital.
“When the incident took place, there was no safety measure in place. However, the workers of the construction site hurriedly installed a safety net to hide their fault and fled off the scene,” Monirul added.
Munna’s father Abu Kalam said he and his only son Munna were attending at the hospital for the last seven days by turn. His son fell victim to the negligence of the building owners when he was returning home, he lamented.
“My son wanted to become a fashion designer after passing the HSC exams. He had already visited a private university in Uttara,” said Kalam. He added, “My wife has not yet been informed about our son’s tragic death. How can I inform her about it!” he continued.
During a visit to the construction site, hundreds of bricks were seen piled on the edge of the first, third, seventh, ninth and tenth floors. One of these bricks fell from the 10th floor and killed Munna.
No-one of the officials of the construction site was available to talk about the incident.
A security guard of the construction site, Mohammad Majnu said all the officials, staffers and construction workers of the building fled just after the incident.
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police officer-in-charge Syed Ziauzzaman said they detained six workers but all the officials went into hiding.
The OC said they are trying to identify who are responsible for the incident.
According to the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), the owner, structural engineer and architect of an under-construction building are responsible for taking safety measures to protect public life and property during construction period.
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) that approves design of a proposed building has no legal mandate to enforce safety measures at a construction site, said Rajuk Chairman Md Nurul Huda.
“The affected person can file a case against the building owner on charge of not taking safety measures,” the Rajuk chairman added.
-With The Daily Star input