The death toll in Saturday night’s Rangs Bhaban cave-in on the city’s Bijoy Sarani rose to four yesterday while the fire service stopped rescue operation on safety grounds.

As of last night, at least a dozen people were feared trapped inside.

Fire Service and Civil Defence has so far rescued 12. Of them, one died at the city’s orthopaedic hospital yesterday and the rest were undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

Meanwhile, the government has formed a three-member committee headed by Rajuk’s Chief Engineer Shah Alam to probe the incident. The two other members are Rajuk’s deputy chief engineer and a teacher of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday afternoon, Debashis Bardhan, deputy director (instructor) of the fire service, said, “We’ve seen three bodies trapped in debris inside. But we could not recover those for fear of further collapse. Besides, labourers have told us that at least 11 to 12 of their co-workers are still missing.”

He said the authorities have asked them not to continue with the rescue operation since it is risky to do the job with the equipment they have.

Earlier in the day, a team of BUET’s civil engineering department carried out an inspection of the structure and said its condition is too dangerous for the rescuers to work there.

The probe committee members, experts from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), foreign affairs adviser and army officials too visited the site between 10:30am and 12:30pm.

Late at night Saturday, a portion of the 22-storey Rangs Bhaban collapsed. The building was under demolition after the Supreme Court in August ordered for the construction beyond the sixth floor to be knocked down.

Mahbubur Rahman, one of the labourers hired for the demolition work, told The Daily Star, “As a part of the roof came crashing down on us, the whole place became dark and dusty. Those of us who were awake could manage a way out of the rubble but those who were sleeping couldn’t come down.”

Fire service, police and Rapid Action Battalion men kept the collapse site cordoned off.

Firefighters said they have seen three bodies tangled up in wreckage on the fourth, fifth and seventh floors. But they were yet to locate others missing inside.

Debashis Bardhan said, “We plan to resume the rescue efforts after making sure the building is safe enough for that. We need to have a supporting structure of steel bars built around the building so that there is no more collapse.”

But neither Rajuk or the fire service has the equipment necessary to do it and they would have to hire it from the private companies, he added.

Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Brigadier General Rafiqur Rahman told reporters that they were looking for some safer means to rescue the victims and clear the debris.

The Rangs Bhaban authorities at a press briefing yesterday blamed the collapse on negligence of the Rajuk authorities.

They alleged that Rajuk had appointed a ship-breaking firm for partial demolition of the multi-storey building.

Rajuk Executive Engineer Anwar Hossain, however, has denied the allegations.

Bangladesh, Monday, December 10, 2007