DUBAI // A perfume factory in which 11 men died in a blaze was housing workers illegally, investigators said yesterday. The names of the dead men who worked at Afnan Perfumes - six from India, four from Bangladesh and one from Pakistan - were also released. However, some of the bodies were so badly burnt that they have not yet been identified. The cause of the fire at the warehouse in Al Quoz has not been established.
An inquiry into the fatal blaze was ready to be handed to prosecutors, said Redha Salman, head of Dubai's public health and safety department, which conducted the investigation. "We have sent our report to the legal department, who will then hand it to the Dubai public prosecution," Mr Salman said. "We have reported the violations we observed in this factory. These warehouses and factories are made for storage or light industrial work. They are not meant for housing people."
The activities in the factory were "completely banned and illegal", Mr Salman said. He did not give exact details of the violations found in the premises. He also refused to clarify whether the company had been fined before for housing workers. Most of the bodies found after the blaze remained in the Dubai Police morgue as forensic experts tried to link the bodies with the names. "We are trying our best to identify the bodies with the help of the police, company and relatives," said Nasreen Jahan, the Bangladesh labour attache in Dubai. "All the men have relatives in the UAE and we have already contacted them."
The Indian Consulate in Dubai said that families of the Indian victims had been told and arrangements were being made for the repatriation of their remains. The consulate also planned to assist in obtaining compensation for the families. The fire broke out about an hour after midnight on August 10 in a building being used as a factory and warehouse, and to house some of the company's workers. The building burnt to the ground within minutes, killing some of those who slept inside.
The Emirati owner of the company, his Indian partner and the Indian manager of the company were arrested. The owner was later released on bail. They have been referred to public prosecutors and accused of breaching health and safety regulations, resulting in accidental deaths. The Dubai public prosecution will take the case forward to find out what led to the fire and who should be held accountable. Mr Salman said that ensuring such warehouses and factories were safe was a challenge. "Unfortunately people continue to use these places to house workers," he said. "They house people under different pretexts. Some claim that they are in 24-hour operation, while others said that they have valuable material and need people to protect it."
He said mattresses and cooking gas were discovered in the factory, indicating that people were often living there. "We really need to know if this was caused from some process going on there in the night, such as an electrical short circuit, or from outside sources," said Mr Salman. Dubai Municipality launched a campaign in 2007 against companies using warehouses as worker accommodation. Civil defence officials regularly inspect such facilities and violators are fined up to Dh50,000. More than 300 fines and warnings were issued by civil defence in the first half of this year to warehouses and companies found to have violated fire, health and safety regulations. "We started the campaign in 2007 but gave companies time to find alternate accommodation," Mr Salman said. "Due to the high rents at that time, we felt that some time should be given for genuine cases to find accommodation," he added. @Email:pmenon@thenational.ae
The names and countries of origin of the victims of the perfume factory fire. Some were identified by only one name. Abdul Rahim - India Ahmed Khan Pathan - India Thajuddin - India Kamal Singh - India Samiullah Khan - India Ehsaan Mia - India Shafi Mohammed - Pakistan Suman - Bangladesh Sunamuddin - Bangladesh Abdul Kadir - Bangladesh Rahim - Bangladesh
