Bashundhara City

Bashundhara City (Bengali: বসুন্ধরা সিটি) is a shopping mall in Dhaka. The mall is located in Panthapath, near Kawran Bazar, and was opened to the public on 6 August 2003. The building complex is 19 stories tall and covers an area of 17,763 m2 (191,200 sq ft), making it the second largest shopping mall in Bangladesh. It is also one of the largest shopping malls in South Asia, with up to 50,000 visitors each day,

Bashundhara City
General information
LocationPanthapath, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Opening4 October 2004
Technical details
Floor countMall: 8
Office: 19
Other information
Number of stores2,325 shops including 100 food courts.[1]
Number of anchors9
Parking500 cars
Website
www.bashundhara-city.com

The mall has space for 2,325 retail stores and cafeterias. It features a large underground gymnasium, a Star Cineplex cinema, a penthouse food court, an ice skating rink, a theme park, a fitness club, and a swimming pool. It also includes the 19-story corporate offices of the Bashundhara Group.[2]

The fully air-conditioned shopping mall with rooftop gardens is considered a modern symbol of the emerging city of Dhaka. It is the first modern mall in the city, designed by the principal architect Mustapha Khalid Palash and Mohammad Foyez Ullah of Vistaara.

Construction

Construction started in 1998 under Shafiat Sobhan, the vice-chairman of the Bashundhara Group. The cost of the building was more than BDT100 million.[3]

2009 fire

On 13 March 2009, the top floors of the Bashundhara City complex caught on fire. The blaze started around 1:30 pm, after Friday prayers, on one of the top floors.[4] Most of the offices were empty, as Friday is the first day of the weekend in Bangladesh. A security guard died as he jumped off the top of the building to escape the fire and seventeen other people were injured. The chief security officer of the building was rescued from the rooftop by a Bangladesh Air Force Bell 212 helicopter.[5]

Later that day, reports announced the deaths of three more people found in an elevator by a group of fire fighters and the number of injured people climbed to fifty. Most of the injuries were caused by smoke inhalation. The fire took six hours to be brought under control due to the strong summer winds.[6][7] The city's mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, ordered all the fire services in the capital to the scene and requested assistance from army personnel.[8][9] The fire attracted thousands of onlookers outside the complex from Panthapath to Hatirpool, causing heavy traffic.[4]

The fire was extinguished after nearly ten hours. Most of the victims who died were employees, and most of the shoppers were unharmed.[10] The mall was closed for two days and was once again opened to the public on 16 March. According to the mall authorities, damages reached Tk2 billion (US$29m).[11] Minister of Home Affairs Tanjim Ahmad Sohel ordered a three-member committee to review the incident. He proclaimed the damage was caused due to the lack of fire-protection equipment during the time of the incident.[12]

  • Dome of Bashundhara City Mall.
  • Dome of Bashundhara City Shopping Complex
  • Interior of Bashundhara City Mall.
  • Blaze at The Bashundhara City March 2009 Fire.
  • At night.
  • Interior.
  • The Dome at night.

See also

References
  1. "Prime minister opens Basundhara City". Bashundhara Group. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  2. "About Bashundhara City". Bashundhara City. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  3. "Bashundhara City, Bangladesh's first world-class shopping mall, awaits opening next month". Bashundhara Group. 18 July 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  4. "Bashundhara City turns towering inferno". bdnews24.com. 13 March 2009.
  5. "Fire hits Dhaka shopping center". BBC News. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  6. "Fire kills 4 at vast Bangladesh shopping mall". CBC News. Associated Press. 13 March 2009.
  7. Hossain, Farid (13 March 2009). "Fire at Bangladesh's Largest Mall Kills 7". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  8. "One dead, 11 injured in shopping mall fire". Gulf Times. Agence France-Presse. 13 March 2009. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  9. Hossain, Farid (13 March 2009). "Fire at Bangladesh's largest mall kills 7". CNEWS. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009.
  10. "Fire crews conquer Dhaka mall fire". Al Jazeera English. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  11. "Bashundhara mall to open to public tomorrow". The Daily Star. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009.
  12. "At Least 7 Dead in Bangladesh Mall Fire". CBS News. Associated Press. 13 March 2009.

Further reading

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