One dead as fire rages thru Khawaja Tower in Dhaka; Internet, call services disrupted countrywide

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The army, navy, and air force have joined forces with the Fire Service to combat the blaze​

Fire service officials try to rescue a man trapped in fire at the Khawaja Tower at Mohakhali in Dhaka on 26 October 2023. Photo: Nayem Ali/ TBS

At least one person has been killed in a fire incident in the Khawaja Tower - a 14-storey commercial building - at Mohakhali area of the capital on Thursday (26 October) afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Hasnahena by her husband Sony.

She died while trying to climb down the building using a cable to escape the fire, Emdadul Hoque, president of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), confirmed to The Business Standard.

Hailing from Gaibandha, Hasnahena was a worker at the sales division of internet service provider (ISP) Orbit located on the 9th floor of the building, Emdadul said.
Her body has been kept at Metropolitan Police Hospital, her husband Sony said.

Several others were injured while trying to get out of the building as well.

Fire burns the top floors of Khawaja Tower at Mohakhali on 26 October 2023. Photo: Nayem Ali/ TBS

Emdadul also said the death of another person has also been reported. But TBS could not independently verify the information.

Meanwhile, at least eight people have been rescued as of 10:30pm Thursday, Fire Service and Civil Defence officials said.

A man rescued from the Khawaja Tower where a fire broke out on 26 October 2023. Photo: Nayem Ali / TBS

A man rescued from the Khawaja Tower where a fire broke out on 26 October 2023. Photo: Nayem Ali / TBS

The floor where the fire originated houses an ISP office, fire service officials said, adding that they have managed to safely evacuate the majority of the individuals who were trapped there.

Internet, telecom networks disrupted across country

Meanwhile, the fire in Khawaja Tower has caused internet glitches across the country.

ISPAB President Emdadul told TBS that the building houses two separate data centres of International Internet Gateway (IEG) which provides bandwidth to some of the major ISPs of the country.

People crowd in front of the Khawaja Tower at Mohakhali after a fire broke out in the building on 26 October 2023. Photo: Nayem Ali/ TBS

"The ISPs dependent on the IEG data centres provide 70% of broadband internet services across the country. As the data centres are shut down, internet services are getting disrupted," he said.

Emdadul said an estimated 60-70% internet users in Dhaka are experiencing internet glitches.

The fire is also disrupting inter-operator calls.

"Due to a fire incident at Khawaja Tower in Mohakhali, all mobile operators are experiencing issues with inter-operator calls, as there is a hub of interconnection exchange located in that building. Mobile operators, in collaboration with the relevant ICX operators, are actively working to relocate the connections to another location at an earliest. We hope to improve the situation soon. We would appreciate everyone to bear with this inconvenience caused due to this fire incident," The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) said in a statement on Thursday night.

Robi, the second largest telecom operator in the country, also issued a press statement in this regard.

Fire service officials working to douse the fire on the 13th floor of the Khawaja Tower in Mohakhali, Dhaka on 26 October 2023.

"Due to technical reasons caused by the fire incident at Khawaja Tower located in Mohakhali, Dhaka, some of our valued customers may experience temporary difficulty in making voice calls from Robi to other operators or from other operators to Robi. Our technical department is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We sincerely apologise for this temporary inconvenience," Robi said in the statement.

Khawaja Tower also houses mobile network towers of the other major telecom operators including Grameenphone, the largest one in the country.

Rafi Al Faruk, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters told The Business Standard that the fire originated on the 13th floor of the 14-storey building.

Fire rages through Khawaja Tower at Mohakhali on 26 October 2023. Photo: Nayem Ali/ TBS

"We received information that there are several individuals trapped inside the building," he said.

According to media reports, many people were seen in the afternoon gathering on the rooftop of the building to escape the fire.

Eleven firefighting units are working to douse the fire, he said.

The army, navy, and air force have joined forces with the Fire Service to combat the blaze, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Following the fire incident, traffic movement was halted on both sides of the road stretching from Amtali to Gulshan 1.

The fire service was informed of the fire at 4:58pm and the first unit reached the spot at 5:07pm, said duty officer Rafi Al Faruk.