P2P Furniture fire: Factory lacked firefighting equipment, says fire service

The P2P Furniture factory in Chattogram, where two people died in a fire on Monday, lacked adequate firefighting equipment despite having flammable objects, fire service officials said.

"There was no fire extinguisher, fire hose, or any water supply system. Everyone was panicking after the fire started. They had no idea about the dos and don'ts in such circumstances," Faruk Hossain Sikdar, divisional assistant director, Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Business Standard (TBS).

The factory had spirit, foam, kerosene, furniture among other combustible objects and materials, authorities said.

However, Asraful Islam Alvi, managing director of P2P Family, the parent company of P2P Furniture, denied the statements of fire service officials.

"There was a firefighting system in the factory, 100%," he claimed.

"It is difficult to control a fire in a place like this where there are such combustible objects and we are now focusing on the affected families," he added.

The fire started at the warehouse on the second floor of the factory in the Colonel Hat area of the port city on Monday around 3.30 pm.

The bodies of the two deceased are yet to be identified as they have become unrecognisable due to severe burns.

Mustafizur Rahman, officer in-charge of Pahartali police station, said the two deceased are suspected to be Roni (16) and Shahadat (28).

"But we do not know which body is whose. We will hand over the bodies to their families after they have been identified by DNA testing," he added.

At the time this report was written (5.00pm Tuesday), the bodies were being kept at Chattogram Medical College and Hospital.
Confusion regarding source of fire

Meanwhile, conflicting statements from authorities have given rise to confusion regarding what caused the fire.

The fire service authorities are yet to confirm how the fire started. 

Newton Das, divisional deputy assistant director, Fire Service and Civil Defence, said a committee will be formed later to investigate the cause of the fire and to determine the losses. However, he refrained from saying how long it might take to form the committee.

Factory authorities, in the meantime, have stated two different sources of the fire. Ariyan Islam, head of brand of P2P Family, said the fire started from a generator. On the other hand, the company's Managing Director, Asraful Islam Alvi, said a short circuit caused the incident.

"The fire started from the generator of the factory making a loud noise, we have confirmed," said Ariyan.