6 Bangladeshis among 9 killed in UAE factory fire

Six Bangladeshis are among the nine workers killed in a devastating fire at a pesticide factory at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Bangladesh Embassy in the Gulf state says.

Nasrin Jahan, labour affairs official at the mission, confirmed bdnews24.com on Wednesday night of the causalities on June 2.

The official said the fire broke out at the godown of the pesticide factory from a cylinder explosion on Sunday night. The workers succumbed to the injuries later.

The Gulf News reports that the fire erupted at the factory in the Al Sajja industrial area at around 9pm last Sunday.

All 6 Bangladeshi workers are identified.

Of the eight injured workers, four succumbed to injuries in the hospital on Wednesday while police recovered two charred bodies of workers from the site the same day.

The report says the dead are of Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationalities.

Investigation into the incident is still going on.

“The intensity of the fire was very strong because the materials being burned were extremely flammable,” Gulf News quoted Brigadier Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, as saying.

“The fire broke out at the pesticide factory and spread to the adjacent wood workshop but the exact cause has not been established until we carry out an investigation. We were able in six hours to get the fire under control,” Brigadier Al Suwaidi said.

All roads were cordoned off by Anjad patrols and the area was evacuated.

Al Sajja Police station is investigating the incident, the report said.



The other four injured workers were receiving treatment at Al Qasimi and Al Kuwaiti hospitals. On Feb 4 this year, at least 22 expatriate workers including 13 Bangladeshis died and many others were injured when the bus they were travelling in collided with a lorry in the city of Al Ain.

And on Jan 12, 13 Bangladesh nationals were killed in a devastating fire in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

Thursday 6 June 2013

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/06/05/6-bangladeshis-among-9-killed-in-uae-factory-fire