Bashundhara City Fire Incidence
Bashundhara City is a shopping mall located in Dhaka, Bangladesh with a rotunda architecture. It is the largest shopping centre in South Asia, and the 12th largest in the world. Opened to the public on 6 August 2004, the mall is located at Panthapath, near Karwan Bazar, in Dhaka city. Bashundhara City is 21 stories tall, of which 8 are used for the mall and the remaining floors are used as the corporate headquarters of the Bashundhara Group.
On 13 March 2009, the top floors of the Bashundhara City Complex were damaged by a fire. A raging blaze reduced the upper levels of the capital's Bashundhara City shopping complex to a skeleton, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 others. Ill-equipped to douse high-rise flames, the fire fighters could do little as the fire that broke out on the 17th floor at around 1:45pm swallowed up two floors above and three below. Later, military, police and Rab personnel joined them and brought the flames under control at around 9:00pm. For hours, they fought an uphill battle with miserably inadequate equipment at their disposal. Since Fire Service and Civil Defence's only aerial ladder cannot gain access beyond 13th floor, six floors of the 20-storey mall-cum-office tower remained out of the fire fighters' reach to be left in ruins. Black plumes of smoke from the high rise spiralled upward, while blazing windowpanes, furniture and other objects rained down on the pavement.
Of those dead, Baki Billa, a member of Bashundhara's own firefighting department, slipped and fell trying to climb down a rope. Three others however made safe landing while an air force chopper rescued another fireman from the rooftop. The injured were rushed to nearby clinics and hospitals and treated for burns and smoke inhalation. Lt Commander Shahidul Islam, who led a 36-member rescue team from the navy, said they searched through the affected floors, but found no-one. However, locals said a number of people might be trapped inside as smoke and heat made
On 13 March 2009, the top floors of the Bashundhara City Complex were damaged by a fire. A raging blaze reduced the upper levels of the capital's Bashundhara City shopping complex to a skeleton, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 others. Ill-equipped to douse high-rise flames, the fire fighters could do little as the fire that broke out on the 17th floor at around 1:45pm swallowed up two floors above and three below. Later, military, police and Rab personnel joined them and brought the flames under control at around 9:00pm. For hours, they fought an uphill battle with miserably inadequate equipment at their disposal. Since Fire Service and Civil Defence's only aerial ladder cannot gain access beyond 13th floor, six floors of the 20-storey mall-cum-office tower remained out of the fire fighters' reach to be left in ruins. Black plumes of smoke from the high rise spiralled upward, while blazing windowpanes, furniture and other objects rained down on the pavement.
Of those dead, Baki Billa, a member of Bashundhara's own firefighting department, slipped and fell trying to climb down a rope. Three others however made safe landing while an air force chopper rescued another fireman from the rooftop. The injured were rushed to nearby clinics and hospitals and treated for burns and smoke inhalation. Lt Commander Shahidul Islam, who led a 36-member rescue team from the navy, said they searched through the affected floors, but found no-one. However, locals said a number of people might be trapped inside as smoke and heat made