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Death toll now 2, probe on
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respond to fires with initial firefighting. “But the residents of this building had no training on it and they could not respond to the incident accordingly,” he said.
Replying to a query, he said the two died as they jumped off the building. “We repeatedly told them not to jump. After some time, our firefighters with breathing gear entered the building and rescued trapped victims alive,” he said.
One person who jumped off the building to avoid the blaze died yesterday, raising the death toll to two.
Mohammad Raju, 30, who was a cook in an apartment on the 12th floor, died around 3:30am yesterday at a hospital in Gulshan.
On Sunday night, Anwar Hossain, 32, died.
Three people are under treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
The fire began around 7:00pm on the sixth floor and spread up to the 12th floor. It could be brought under control around 11:00pm with the efforts of firefighters who were joined at one point by the air force and army personnel.
Firefighters rescued 22 people, including 11 women and a child, from the building on Road-104 of Gulshan-2.
The fire could have originated from a short circuit inside the building’s lift which then spread quickly due to the wooden décor inside the lift, Brig Gen Md Main Uddin, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star.
He said wood had been used a lot for interior decoration in the building and that could be a reason for the fire spreading this quickly.
Two firefighters who conducted the search operation told this newspaper that ducts from the third to the 11th floors were badly burnt and those had electrical lines. The gas line was close by too. The ducts were next to the lift.
Engineer Mahfuzul Hasan, who worked at the building during construction, claimed that the building had a central AC system which helped the fire spread.
He also claimed that the 10th floor was damaged the most and that floors 10 and 11 belonged to a garment factory owner.
Mohammad Sajal, a caretaker of a flat, told The Daily Star that he and his colleagues first heard the fire alarm at 6:35pm and then they called the reception.
“When the smoke was rushing in, we went downstairs [from the sixth floor] with a fire extinguisher. We first saw the fire near one of the two staircases … . We somehow managed to get down from the building. The fire spread to the whole building through the central AC system,” he suspected.
Visiting the spot yesterday, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam claimed that the building was compliant and that it followed every code stipulated by Rajuk. But unfortunately, the residents of the building did not have training on how to respond to fires.
The mayor said the extinguishing of the fire and the rescue efforts were hampered due to the huge crowd blocking surrounding roads.
NO FIRE STATION IN GULSHAN, BANANI
There is no fire station in Gulshan and Banani areas which sometimes causes delays in firefighters reaching those areas, fire service officials said.
However, firefighters managed to reach the spot within 10 minutes of receiving the call. The neighbourhoods need a fire station close by as unfavourable conditions in future could delay fire service response, they said.
Brig Gen Main Uddin said they wrote to the DNCC for space to establish fire stations in Gulshan and Banani but did not get any response.
Mayor Atiqul said the city corporation does not have any piece of land to allocate and it was Rajuk that allocates plots.
“The fire department should write to Rajuk, not the city corporation,” he said.
As there is no fire station in Gulshan and Banani, fire engines from Bhatara respond to incidents in those areas.
During a spot visit yesterday afternoon, police were seen guarding the building. Not even caretakers and guards were allowed in.

Med diet linked
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ICB is a relatively new and highly successful treatment against severe cancers used in immunotherapy to boost the immune system.
These drugs cause the immune system to recognise, clear and destroy the cancer cells.
Experts believe the findings indicate that cancer patients could potentially be given lifesaving dietary advice.
Professor Tim Spector, co-lead of the study from King’s College London, said: “The connection between the diet, gut microbes and helping the immune system fight cancer is one of the most exciting areas of medical research.
“Our two publications clearly show the importance of a gut friendly diet on improving your chances of surviving a cancer.”
He added: “Medical practice is often falling behind the latest finding on diet and gut microbes, but I believe all cancer patients should now be given potentially lifesaving dietary advice such as increasing plant diversity, reducing junk food and adding fermented foods before starting therapies.”
Researchers found that diet appears to improve the effectiveness and tolerability of ICB.
They suggest that a key potential mechanism underlying this association between diet and immunotherapy response is the gut microbiome – the community of different bacteria that lives in our gut.
Last year, the group led by co-author Karla Lee and colleagues from King’s College showed that the composition of the gut microbiome at the start of treatment was a major factor in a patient’s response to this type of cancer treatment.
The new study looked at the dietary habits of 91 patients with advanced melanoma.
They were all treated with checkpoint inhibitors and followed for 12 months. And scans were used to measure the effect of the medication.
Dr Veronique Bataille, a melanoma expert at King’s College London who coordinated the trial, said: “Immunotherapy has revolutionised the treatment of different types of advanced cancer.”