Gazi Tyres factory looted, set ablaze yet again

The Gazi Tyres factory in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj has been set ablaze and looted again within a week after a devastating fire razed the factory. 

“Around 5pm, a group of people infiltrated the factory from the back side after cutting the barbed wire fence. They looted machinery from the building and set fire to the wastage section,” Hafizur Rahman, a security guard at the factory, told The Business Standard today (6 September).

“We caught some people with the help of local residents,” he added.

Nazrul Islam, a local, said, “We saw smoke coming out of the factory and came to see what was going on. I saw many people looting and setting fire. They fled after the police arrived. Locals have caught some people and tied them up.”

This is the fourth time the factory has been looted within a month.

Earlier on 5 August, the day Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the face of a mass uprising, unidentified individuals looted the factory.

Later, on 8 August, the factory was looted again.

On 25 August, the factory was looted again and set on fire. It took a dozen firefighting units over 30 hours to douse the fire.

Local residents have alleged that many people went missing during the incident, but the Fire Service said they did not find any bodies on the ground floor of the building.

On 27 August, Assistant Director of Fire Service and Civil Defence Anwarul Haque said rescue operation could not be conducted after dousing the inferno due to the vulnerable condition of the building.

An eight-member committee has been formed to probe the incident. The production of the factory has been suspended since 5 August.

Spanning over 45 acres of land, the factory employed 2,000-3,000 workers.

According to factory officials, the estimated loss caused by the fire could be around Tk8,000 crore.