20190401 Probe committees visit FR Tower in Banani
Bangladesh Apr 01 2019 “Building”
Dead : dead more than 10 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured more than 10
Probe committees visit FR Tower in Banani
Updated: 2019–04–01
Members of the probe committee formed by the Housing and Public Works Ministry have visited FR Tower, the building in Banani that burnt down in a deadly fire on Thursday.
A probe committee from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and representatives of IEB and BUET also visited the building on Monday to collect information.
The probe committee of Housing and Public Works Ministry visited the 23-storey FR Tower at 10.30 am on Monday. The committee has been checking the building against the design provided by its owners.
“We came here to check if the structure in reality follows the planned design that the owners submitted to us,” said chief architect of the ministry Kazi Golam Nasir.
They are yet to receive the design approved by capital development authority RAJUK, he said.
“We haven’t received the design approved by RAJUK. We are likely to receive it today and then will check both designs against each other to identify any flaw in the structure.”
The deadly fire on Thursday left 26 dead as of now with more than 50 persons injured. Complaints of mismanagement in the building arose after the fire incident.
The FR Tower in Banani is flanked by 10 buildings which are constructed close to each other. Questions have been raised on constructing buildings in such a way.
“The 1984 policy allows the commercial buildings be constructed next to each other. But the 1996 policy makes it mandatory to leave space between two buildings. We’ll investigate which policy RAJUK followed when it approved the construction of these buildings,” said Golam Nasir.
Apart from the Housing and Public Works Ministry, Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Fire Service and Civil Defence have also formed an investigation panel on the FR Tower fire incident. Representatives from the IEB and BUET are also investigating the incident.
Members of the investigation panel from the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, IEB and BUET also visited the FR Tower on Monday.
The eight-member panel of the IEB visited different floors in the building from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm.
They have gathered details about the infrastructure of the building from different floors, said Secretary Kazi Khairul Bashar adding they will release the report next week.
“We can’t say anything particular as of now. The fire could have initiated from the eighth floor, or even from the ninth, tenth floor,” he said when asked about their primary observation.
Complaints of mismanagement in the FR Tower surfaced during the public hearing by the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry on Sunday.
Web source:
The Nation
https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2019/04/01/probe-committees-visit-fr-tower-in-banani