I am very grateful to be alive today: A survivor recounts Bailey Road fire incident

Desk Report

Publisted at 6:05 PM, Fri Mar 1st, 2024

While the devastating fire in a commercial building in the capital’s Bailey Road area killed 46 people, some were fortunate enough to survive the inferno.

Prothit Shams is one of them.

“I am very grateful to be alive today,” he wrote in a Facebook post, thanking Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence.

The long social media post narrates the blaze and people’s struggle for survival.

“I was stuck on the 8th floor of the building that caught on fire in Bailey Road for 2 hours. There were about 20 of us stuck on the 8th floor. At first, we were all trying to remain calm and figure out a way out, but there was no fire escape, and the staircase was engulfed in flames. Our floor was filled with black smoke, and we were barely able to breathe. We took refuge in the kitchen as it was the only place at that time with the least amount of smoke,” Prothit Shams said.

Recalling the horrific memory, Prothit Sham wrote, “I saw people jumping from the floor above us, and what I saw next was just traumatizing. People were engulfed in flames, and I could do nothing to help them. At that moment, I thought the fire would soon reach us as well. The smoke levels gradually started increasing, and I could feel everything inside me burning up. That's when I honestly thought there would be no way out, this is it for me.”

“My life was literally flashing before my eyes, everything I ever did, everyone I cared about, I was just thinking about them and trying to comprehend what I should do now. I could not remain calm anymore, and thus took the decision to call my family to let them know about everything that was going on and told them where exactly I was situated in the building so that they could pass the information to the fire service. As this went on, the people around me started panicking out of fear, and everyone was calling their loved ones,” he stated.

Struggle for survival:

Prothit Sham recounted a cruisal moment where he, alongside a companion, reached a collective decision that ultimately led to their escape from the relentless grasp of the engulfing flames. He wrote, “One bhaiya (brother) and I took the initiative that somehow we have to get to the roof or the balcony as we were starting to suffocate in the pitch-black smoke. We had been stuck in the kitchen for an hour and a half then. Then we got to know that the fire service was rescuing people from the roof. One of us tried to go and see if there was any way to go upstairs to the roof, but he came back coughing and saying the entire staircase was ablaze, and that there was just scorching fire and it was getting closer to our floor as well. The balcony was the only option left for us, and that bhaiya and I gathered everyone and told them to grab water bottles. We took a decision that saved our lives. We somehow managed to reach the balcony, and that’s when I saw that the floor beneath was still engulfed in flames.”

Thanks to firefighters:

Extolling the firefighters who valiantly rescued them, he pened, “We could finally see firefighters who were rescuing people using the cranes, and we screamed our lungs out so that they could see us somehow in all the black smoke. Finally, they were able to detect us, and I never felt this much relief because I was honestly prepared to face death at that point. The two firefighters that saved us were the bravest people I ever met in my life. They were so composed and handled us with the utmost care when they were taking us onto the crane. I held onto that firefighter, and I just cried and thanked him for saving me.”

“I am very grateful to be alive today. I am still in a state of shock, and I was more traumatized when I was taken to Dhaka Medical Burn Unit. The state of the people there was something out of a horror movie. Compared to them, I got out unscathed. Every ten minutes, someone was coming in stretchers, all burned up. I never saw something this horrendous. I was thinking to myself how extremely lucky I was to come out of there without any serious injuries or just to come out of there alive,” he furthered.

After embracing the opportunity to greet a new day, the survivors conveyed a message to the people. He penned, “To everyone reading this, I would like to say: be more appreciative that you are alive and well and that you are getting to see another day. It’s all fun and games until you are the one caught up in a situation like this. Anything can happen in an instant, and you never know how it may all go wrong in a flash.”

Prothit Sham concluded his narrative with a heartfelt plea, urging individuals to “Be grateful, be humble, keep your loved ones close, and always be extra cautious and careful around your surroundings.”

A massive fire broke out in a commercial building on Bailey Road, primarily housing restaurants, around 10:30 pm on Thursday (29 February).

Firefighters managed to bring the flames under control by approximately 12am.

The fire service has established a five-member investigation committee over the incident.

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