Gazi Tyres factory set on fire, again

Miscreants again looted and set on fire the Gazi Tyres factory in Narayanganj’s Rupganj upazila this afternoon, a day after a similar incident at the plant almost completely gutted in a blaze for nearly one day a week ago.
Some people again broke into the gutted factory and set fire to the wastage section after looting goods, said Abdul Mannan, deputy assistant director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence.
It took one and a half hours for the firefighters to douse the fire.
Earlier, around 1:30am on Thursday, some miscreants set fire to the factory’s east portion.
Factory officials said people looted the factory and set it on fire after the Awami League government’s fall on August 5 amid a mass uprising. The factory’s owner Golam Dastagir Gazi was a minister of that government.
They again torched the six-storey building on August 25. The blaze was brought under control after around 22 hours, and completely doused after five days.
Many people were reportedly trapped inside and remained missing after the incident,
However, no body was recovered as the building was declared too risky to conduct any rescue operation.
Families of the missing people, however, entered the building and claimed to have found some human remains on September 1. The collected remains were handed over to police later.
A security guard of the factory told this newspaper that he quit his job because of safety concerns.
“There’s no security in this factory anymore. Despite the presence of law enforcers, people enter the factory and loot goods every day. Some people tried to hack me when I tried to stop them from looting on early Thursday. I’ve quit the job today [Friday] for my own security. I can’t continue this anymore,” the guard said.
Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mahmudul Haque said Industrial Police personnel were deployed to the factory after the August 25 fire incident. He promised action over the latest incident.
Md Asaduzzaman, superintendent of Industrial Police-4 in Narayanganj, said the factory covers an area of at least 50 acres, which is open from all sides.
“The security situation of the factory is now very vulnerable. Moreover, you know the existing condition of police. We’re trying our best [to maintain law and order].”