A 19-member Citizens’ Investigation Committee visited Hashem Foods factory Saturday and claimed to have found human remains on the fourth floor.
“While inspecting the fourth floor of the factory, I saw human bones there and stench was all around,” Taslima Akhter, president of Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity and a member of the Citizens’ Committee delegation said.
“It was probably the remains of a female as it was wrapped with women’s salwar,” she said.
“As there are still bones here, there may be more corpses or body parts on the fourth floor of the factory. Further investigation will reveal the actual number of deaths,” Taslima added.
“We hope to publish our findings within 30 working days,” said Professor Anu Muhammad, a member of the Citizens’ Committee.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has taken charge of the investigation into the fire that killed 51 people at Hashem Foods Ltd’s factory in Narayanganj’s Rupganj upazila on July 8.
“We have launched our investigation, keeping three to four possible reasons in mind,” said Imam Hossain, additional deputy inspector general of CID’s Dhaka range, Saturday while briefing reporters after inspecting the site.
“We have visited the accident site for the first time today after taking charge of the investigation. We have already given a 10-point instruction to the investigation officer (IO) of the case,” said the additional DIG.
“The IO has also been given important information that we got and he will work based on it. We hope to solve the case as soon as possible,” he added.
“Those who might have video footage or any information on the fire incident are requested to contact us. We have identified three to four possible causes for the accident. We cannot mention them now at this primary level of the investigation,” the CID official also said.
“This is a major event and time is needed to conduct a thorough investigation,” Imam said.
Inspector Nazim Uddin, in-charge of Bhulta Police Outpost under Rupganj Police Station, filed a case with the police station alleging negligence — naming six people including the factory owner Abul Hashem and accusing several others — over the fire.
Six people, including Abul Hashem, were sent to jail after a four-day remand.
