Rising temperature is driving up the use of freezing vans
In the past, bodies were carried around Dhaka as well as the country by ambulances or microbuses. However, over the last decade, the use of more and more freezing vans have become prevalent
It was a lazy September afternoon. The roads were emptier than usual, the heat unbearable.
Sitting at the driver's seat of his freezing van, Mohammad Mostofa was watching YouTube videos on his phone. The vehicle was parked in front of the Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital in Eskaton Garden Road.
He was waiting for a call from a customer, someone whose relative or a family member had died and they needed to use the van to carry the body.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"If any phone call comes only then will I make a trip," said the 28-year-old. "But I certainly do not want anyone to die."
He has been driving the freezing van for the last four years. Before that, he drove an ambulance for another four years.
Now, Mostofa works for Jony Ambulance Service. The company has a total of six vehicles: two freezing vans, one ICU ambulance and three regular ambulances.
The area in front of the Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital has become the largest in Dhaka for parking freezing vans.
Any time of the day, you will see at least five of these vans waiting here. The reason is, most of the ambulance owners live in Moghbazar and adjacent areas.
You will also find these freezing vans near Dhaka Medical College Hospital, National Heart Foundation Hospital at Mirpur-2, Mugda Hospital and many other hospitals in the city.
In the past, bodies were carried around Dhaka as well as the country by ambulances or microbuses.
However, the scenario has changed over the last decade. At present, there are around 200 freezing vans operating in Dhaka city. Ambulance service providers said that the demand for freezing vans for carrying bodies is increasing day by day.
In 2012, Alif Ambulance Service introduced these vans to Bangladesh.
"I brought a freezing van so people could spend a bit more time with their dead relatives [without worrying about decomposition]," said its owner Momin Ali who started providing ambulance service in 1989.
With time, other companies began to bring in freezing vans. These days ambulance service providers have added body-carrying vans to their fleet to meet their growing demand.
"Now very few people take bodies to their hometown by ambulance; they prefer freezing vans," said freezing van driver Mostofa.
Carrying bodies to distant districts increases the risk of decomposition. Moreover, sometimes relatives want to keep the body for a day or two before burial so that relatives who live far away or say, out of the country, can come and see it for the last time.
People from all walks of life rent these vans. However, wealthier families prefer it more.
In order to get a freezing van or an ambulance, one can dial the public emergency helpline 999. There are online-based ambulance service-providing companies too.
The rent of a body-carrying freezing van is higher than an ambulance. The ambulance service provider company 24 Ambulance has a price chart on its website.
According to it, if someone rents an ambulance from Dhaka to Savar, s/he will have to pay Tk3,000. But if someone rents a body-carrying freezer van, the price is Tk4,000.
For longer distances, the charge is higher. From Dhaka to Tetulia in Panchagarh, one has to pay Tk16,000 for an ambulance. In the case of a freezing van, it is Tk22,000.
However, there are additional costs. As mentioned earlier, many people rent a freezing van so that they can keep the body for a day or two. In that case, the company charges at least Tk500 per hour as a waiting charge.
Like the rent-a-car business, the ambulance service providers are small businessmen with several ambulances and they also have partnerships with other companies.
Mohammad Shahadat started his business in 2017 with a single ambulance. Later, he partnered with two of his friends to build the company 24 Ambulance.
He said that now they have seven freezing vans. They keep them in front of the Holy Family Hospital, and in some specific areas in Mohakhali and Mirpur-10.
He said that inside the city, the service charge is Tk2,500 and the waiting charge is Tk500 per hour.
They added freezing vans to their fleet after seeing their growing demand.
"These vehicles are imported from Japan and the price of a single freezing van stands at around Tk30 lakh," Shahadat informed us.
He said that there is no guideline for setting the price of renting ambulances in the country, which is why they could not increase it.
"Several years back, the business was good but now the price of fuel has gone up, but we have not been able to increase our fare. As a result, the profit margin has come down significantly," he said.
But Hawlader Ambulance Service's owner Saiful Islam said that the business depends on links with the hospitals. His company has three ambulances and one freezer van.
"Those with good links with hospitals do good business," said Saiful, adding that they mainly operate through online portals.
He said that the profit from freezing vans is a bit higher than from ambulances. This is because the cost of operating a freezing van is a bit lower.
"The number of this type of body-carrying vans is increasing day by day due to growing demand," said Golam Mostafa, president of Bangladesh Ambulance Owners' Welfare Association. "One of the main reasons [behind the growing demand] is the rising temperature. It is difficult to keep a body in good shape in high temperatures."
He added that because of the increasing demand, more freezing vans are being imported by companies.
