Gazi Tyre factory fire: 174 reported missing

At least 174 people have been reported missing by their family members following an arson attack at the Gazi Tyre Factory in Narayanganj's Rupganj upazila.

A preliminary list of 174 missing individuals was compiled as of 3:00pm today, Lieutenant Colonel Rezaul Karim, director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense (Dhaka) told.

"Relatives are claiming that their family members, who were at the factory during the looting last night, are missing. We have compiled a preliminary list based on their claims. At this moment, there is no opportunity to verify this information. We are documenting the names and addresses provided by the relatives, and so far, the list includes 174 names," he said.

Saiful Islam, assistant general manager of the factory, said no employees from the factory were on the missing list.

A reporter from spoke with the relatives of at least 12 missing individuals, who confirmed that their family members were inside the Gazi Tyres factory during the looting last night. They have not been able to contact them since, and their phones remain switched off.

As of 1:30pm, flames were still visible at the six-storey factory building, with 12 units of the Fire Service working to control it.

Moni Akter, a woman standing in front of the burning building, said her husband, Md Rashed, a mason, had gone to the factory around 8:30pm last night with another local resident. When Rashed did not return home, she tried calling his phone, but it was switched off.

"I've been looking for my husband all night, but I can't find him. I don't know the person who was with him. What am I going to do now?"

Other relatives of missing individuals also spoke with.

Among the missing are Abdur Rahman, 30, a worker at a cement factory; Md Sujan, 28, a scrap dealer; his sister Mafia Begum, 30; her husband Md Ratan, 35; Hasan Ali 32, a mason from the Baralu area; and his two friends, Ohid, 32 and Rubel, 30.

Saiful Islam, assistant general manager of Gazi Tyres, said hundreds of people broke into the factory in Rupshi area yesterday afternoon, hours after Golam Dastagir Gazi, the chairman of Gazi Group and former Awami League minister, was arrested from the capital.

They set fire to the ground floor of the factory around 9:00am