52 killed in Bangladesh factory fire
Dhaka: At least 52 people were killed and over 50 others injured in a massive fire that broke out at a six-storey juice factory outside Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, according to media reports on Friday.
The fire broke out at around 5pm on Thursday at the Shezan juice factory in Naryanganj's Rupganj, according to fire officials.
It is suspected that the fire originated from the ground floor of the building and spread quickly due to the presence of chemicals and plastic bottles.
Fifty-two people have died and over 50 others were injured in the fire, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Several workers jumped off the building to escape the devastating fire, it said.
Eighteen firefighting units were struggling to douse the fire at the factory building of Hashem Foods Limited.
People gathered in front of the building in search of their loved ones who are still missing. Of the many missing, the identities of 44 missing workers have been confirmed, the newspaper said.
Rescued workers and relatives alleged that the front gate and only exit of the factory remained locked at the time of the fire. They also claimed that the building had no proper fire safety measures in place.
Deputy Director of Narayanganj District Fire Service Abdullah Al Arefin said it will take some time to fully control the fire. Until the fire is doused, it is not possible to say exactly how much damage has occurred and the cause of the fire, he added.
A five-member probe committee has been formed by the district administration to look into the incident.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
