bangladeshHome Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Wednesday that the country has enough expertise to carry out the investigation into the powerful explosion that tore through a building in Dhaka and killed at least 17 people, and vowed that the probe’s findings will be made public.
At least 17 people were killed and more than 100 others injured in the explosion in the busy Gulistan district of Old Dhaka on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after a visit to the blast site on Wednesday, Khan said members of bomb disposal units and police, army and firefighters will investigate the incident. “But if the country’s experts fail [to investigate]”We will enlist the help of foreign experts,” he said. The investigation must be impartial. There is no reason for the investigation to be partial,” he told the Daily Star newspaper. Everything related to the investigation will be made public, Khan said.
Authorities handed over the bodies of the 17 people killed in the explosion to their relatives on Wednesday, said Inspector Bachchu Mia, head of the Dhaka Medical College and the hospital’s police station.
A four-man probe body led by Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Director of Fire and Civil Defense (Operation and Maintenance) has been formed to investigate the cause of the explosion.
The commission has been instructed to submit its report within five working days, said Shahjahan Sikder, an official at the fire and civil defense headquarters. This is reported by United News of Bangladesh.
Three fire units have now started the rescue operation for the second day on Wednesday. Although firefighters have resumed rescue and recovery efforts for a second day at a blast site, work is progressing slowly due to the hazardous condition of the building.
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According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), the building is in a dangerous condition.
The beams and pillars in the basement of the building are damaged and operating heavy machinery in the area, such as excavators, could cause vibrations that could cause the building to collapse, said Zafar Hossain, deputy commissioner of DMP’s Lalbagh zone. “The experts are already meeting. They will come here and give further instructions. The rescue work is not yet complete,” he told the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
Once firefighters fully resume operations and clear debris, only then will it be possible to confirm if anyone is trapped, he added. Officials fear the death toll is likely to rise as many of those rescued are seriously injured.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in Doha for the UN conference on the least developed countries, has prayed for the peace of the deceased and urged the authorities to take swift action to better treat the injured.
Tuesday’s explosion occurred two days after another exposition at a building in Dhaka’s Science Laboratory area, killing three people and injuring several others. Last week, an explosion at a private oxygen plant in the southeastern port city of Chattogram killed seven people, injuring dozens more.
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