Fire breaks across city amid New Year celebrations

Sky lanterns and firecrackers used haphazardly during New Year celebrations caused several incidents of fire in the capital, while it also affected operations of the newly inaugurated metro rail for nearly two hours.

According to sources inside the Fire Services and Civil Defense, fires broke out in several places in Mirpur, Sadarghat, Mohammadpur, Nawabpur and Lalbagh as people released sky lanterns, explored crackers and fireworks.

Defying bans on such fireworks imposed by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the nightlong celebrations also caused sound pollution.

Mahbub Kabir Milon, a former additional secretary of the Bangladesh government said that the DPDC informed on Saturday night that electricity supply cables in the Adabor area snapped after a sky lantern fell on the lines.

DMP commissioner Khandaker Golam Faruq on Saturday slapped a ban on sky lanterns, fireworks and crackers during the New Year celebrations, but that was grossly violated.

Meanwhile, Dhaka metro rail service was stopped for two hours on Sunday after sky lanterns fell on its electric lines after they stopped burning.

"Sky lanterns fell on the electricity lines of the metro rail. So, we have kept the operations suspended to avoid any accidents," said Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) Managing Director MAN Siddique on Sunday (1 January).

Later the metro rail service resumed at 10:05am.

Fire Service assistant director for operations Abdul Halim said the fire control room received four calls of fire incidents; firefighters worked for one of the incidents and the three other fires had been doused by locals.

Fire Service and Civil Defense Headquarters duty officer Ershad Hossain said a fire broke out on electric wire in Lalbagh, tin shed of hawkers' market in Sadarghat, Nawabpur road in old Dhaka and Mirpur-11.

Halim said that they had requested people not to ignite sky lanterns, but it was hardly followed.

A Khilgaon resident Dilruba said that her one-year-old daughter could not sleep for hours due to the sound of explosions from crackers.

"I felt helpless. I could not stop my kid crying. Panic was in her eyes. It was a horrible experience," she added.

National emergency hotline 999 media officer police inspector Anwar Sattar said that they received 365 complaints of sound pollution from crackers after 12:00 midnight on Saturday.

Of those complaints, 160 were from the capital.