The factory of Hashem Foods Ltd in Narayanganj's Rupganj, the site of a devastating blaze which has claimed over 50 lives, lacked an adequate fire safety system, the Fire Service has said.
The building did not have any fire extinguisher or an emergency exit route, according to officials.
Lt Col Zillur Rahman, the Fire Service's director of operations, said the building, spanning approximately 35,000 square feet, only had two exit staircases.
However, a building of this size needed to have at least four to five staircases, according to him.
The factory of Hashem Foods Ltd, a unit of Sajeeb Group, contained a variety of papers, plastics and chemicals. But firefighters could not find any fire extinguishing equipment inside.
To make matters worse, the landing of one of the stairways had been engulfed by the fire, leaving many workers stranded inside the burning building.
Rescuers retrieved 49 charred bodies from the debris of the burning factory on Friday, bringing the death toll to 52, according to bdnews24.com.
The factory caught fire at 5:30 pm on Thursday. As of 3 pm Friday, firefighters were still struggling to tame the flames.
