Dhaka: While the nation mourning successive building collapse and house-fire tragedies in the capital, a high-rise in the city’s Shantinagar area Saturday exposed cracks and sent inmates into scrambles for exit.

“Panicked at the sight of the breaches on some floors of the Concord Grand Tower, hundreds of inmates rushed out of their flats onto the street,” says a firsthand report from the scene.     

Their fears were rather stoked up by people’s traumatic experience of the tragic Begunbari house collapse that killed at least 25 people only five days back and another grim tragedy in quick succession on Thursday night that left 120 people dead and more than as many badly burnt in Nimtoli blaze.   

Built by a reputed property developer named Concord Construction and Engineering, the 20-story commercial-cum-residential tower faced the trouble only four years after its construction.       

On information, police and RAB forces rushed in and cordoned off the skyscraper in front of the Eastern Plus Market.  

Traffic on Shilpacharya Jainul Abedin Road nearby halted for safety risks.       

Flat inmates told banaglanews24.com.bd reporter Muhibub Jaman on the scene that they heard a big sound and found cracks at many places of the building at around 12noon.

“As the cracks started getting bigger in size, the frightened inmates came out of their flats in a haste, leaving behind all of their belongings,” said one in a big crowd of onlookers.

Assistant Commissioner of police Anwar Hossain said people of the building were asked to go away from the scene.

A team of experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) were called in to identify the fault in building the building while a number of fire-fighting units also drove in.

Some 800 people of 200 families live in the massive building—one of a handsome number of high-rises shooting up in the capital city, reportedly without proper planning and monitoring by the government agencies concerned as to whether the builders are doing it by the book.

Fearing the collapse of Concord building at 169/1 Shantinagar, residents of nearby buildings also rushed out of their houses.
 
Noor Akhter Begum, a resident of the building, told banglanews24.com.bd over telephone, “I hurriedly came out of my flat with all of my family members. I saw the cracks, so there’s no reason why I shouldn’t get panicky.”  

Rashed Khan Menon, MP from the area, rushed to the scene as soon as he heard about the incident. DMP Commissioner AKM Shahidul Haque, Rajuk member (Development and Planning) Sheikh Abdul Mannan, Concord Chairman SM Kamaluddin and Chief Executive Director of the Army Engineering Corps Lt Col Abu Sayeed Mohammad Maksud were also on the site.

An expert team of BUET comprising Engineer Dr Shamim Z Basunia, Dr Azad, Dr Munad Ahmed and Dr Fakhrul Amin already started examining the architectural makeup of the house.   

Chief Engineer of Public Works Department Dewan Yamin, Rajuk authorized officer Khalequzzaman and the Chief Engineer of Concord Construction were also on the expert panel.  

The Concord Group Chairman said decision as to whether the building be declared abandoned depends on report of the expert team.

Fire Brigade Deputy Director Dilip Kumar Ghosh said the firefighters evacuated the inmates from their flats. But, many inhabitants did not want to get out of their high-end dream homes leaving behind their valuables.  

General secretary of the Concord Tower Flat Owners’ Welfare Association Fazlur Rahman said residing in the high-rise building became risky as the big cracks developed beside the main column on the 2nd floor.  

Engineer Mahbub Hasan of the land-developer company, however, said, “No fractures developed or damaged seen on the main building. The cracks grew only on the false wall and those walls through which the service lines were drawn.”

The situation does not pose a big risk to the residents, he claimed.

Concord Construction and Engineering started work on the 20-storied commercial-cum-residential building on 18 kathas of land in 1996 and people started residing in from 2006.

Five floors of the building are used for commercial purpose while some 800 people stay in 107 flats on the remaining floors.  

This is the construction firm that constructed the National Mausoleum in Savar, the Prime Minister’s Office, Shilpa Bank Bhaban, IDB Bhaban, Jiban Bima Bhaban and some other important works of grand architecture.

BDST: 1435 Hrs, 05 June 2010
TA/LY/MUA