The 2010 Dhaka fire was a fire in the city of
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
, on 3 June 2010, that killed at least 124 people (117 on spot, others later in hospital).
The fire occurred in the Nimtali area of
Old Dhaka
Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...
.
Cause
The fire was started when an electrical
transformer
In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...
exploded. The head of the fire department speculated that the fire was fanned by perfumes, chemicals and other flammable products stored in nearby shops. The density of the residential area affected made it difficult for firefighters to quell the blaze.
Also, the narrow lanes of Old Dhaka and staircases of old buildings made it challenging for fire service equipment to reach the site.
Casualties
The fire affected multiple residential buildings in the Nimtoli area,
and trapped residents inside apartments.
The fire started at and lasted for over three hours. At least 117 people were killed and over 100 injured by the fire.
The fire affected a wedding party, which exacerbated the casualties.
One of the buildings affected by the fire had no fire escapes and its windows were covered by metal bars.
The injured were treated at the
Dhaka Medical College Hospital, which struggled to cope with the large number of patients suffering burns and smoke inhalation.
According to a doctor at the hospital, most of the deaths appeared to have been caused by smoke inhalation rather than burns.
Rescue operations ceased on 4 June 2010.
Reactions
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...
, the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, ordered an investigation into the fire. She also offered condolences to the victims and their families. The government announced that 5 June 2010 would be a day of mourning.
The
Bangladesh cricket team, who took the field the day after the fire during their tour of England, wore black armbands in remembrance.
Financial assistance
Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahany the chairman of
M.M. Ispahani came up with financial assistance for the victims.
See also
*
List of historic fires
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhaka fire, 2010
2010 fires in Asia
2010 industrial disasters
2010 disasters in Bangladesh
2010 fire
Explosions in 2010
Industrial fires and explosions in Dhaka
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
June 2010 in Bangladesh
Residential building fires in Bangladesh
Old Dhaka