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A fire at the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant of Drug International Company Ltd in Tongi, Gazipur, was brought under control after around three and a half hours of firefighting on Wednesday, with support from 21 Fire Service units, the Army, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police and Gazipur City Corporation.
However, more time will be needed to extinguish the fire completely, the Fire Service said.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Brigadier General Sultanul Afreen Junaid confirmed the development in a press release around 2:15pm on Wednesday (October 14).
He said the fire was brought under control at 1:35pm, but operations would continue until the blaze was fully extinguished and the situation returned to normal.
The fire spread across several floors of the factory. As the facility contained materials used to manufacture essential medicines, including injections, firefighters had to take extra precautions. Smoke from the blaze also caused breathing difficulties.
No casualties were reported, although one firefighter suffered breathing difficulties during the operation and received medical treatment, the director general said.
According to witnesses and relevant sources, factory workers spotted the fire around 10am on the fourth floor of a seven-storey building at Unit-2 of Drug International Company Ltd on Squib Road in the Tongi industrial area.
Factory staff initially tried to extinguish the flames using their own firefighting arrangements. However, the fire intensified and went beyond their control, prompting them to call the Fire Service.
Firefighters from stations in Tongi, Gazipur, Savar, Ashulia and Dhaka joined the operation, alongside personnel from the Army, BGB, RAB, police and Gazipur City Corporation.
The director general said rubber and aluminium-related flammable materials inside the factory made firefighting more difficult. Firefighters also prioritised preventing the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings.
Two factory buildings were initially reported to have been damaged. The extent of the damage and the exact cause of the fire could not immediately be confirmed.
Heavy smoke spread across the area, and the site was cordoned off for safety reasons. Public transport and normal activities were disrupted across an area of around two kilometres.
Drug International Company Ltd manager Shafiqul Islam Badal said the factory had initially attempted to control the fire independently but sought assistance from the Fire Service and other agencies as the blaze intensified.
Further details on the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were not immediately available.
