A team of 10 to 12 construction labours started the risky demolition work around 12:30pm using only elementary tools.

Meanwhile, the DCC temporarily suspended three of its engineers following the incident. The suspended engineers are Mezbahul Karim, executive engineer, Mojibur Rahman, assistant engineer, and Nirmal Chandra Dey, deputy assistant engineer, a DCC press release says.

DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka told newsmen about the suspension orders during his visit to the spot from 11:30am to 2:30pm yesterday. He also expressed concern over the failure of DCC, including the engineers, in preventing such incident.

The mayor also ordered the concerned construction firm Atik Construction be blacklisted and payments of all bills of the firm withheld.

A five-member probe body headed by a professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was formed to investigate the matter and it was also asked to submit a probe report within a week, the DCC press release said.

Families evacuated from the tin-roofed Dayaganj Sweepers' Colony, after the building subsided, returned to their homes yesterday morning. They returned ignoring law enforcers' caution that the building was leaning precariously.

"We stayed on the street last night. We have children and we do not have other places to go to, we have to stay at our home," said Lakshmi Rani, a sweeper of Dayaganj Sweepers' Colony, yesterday.

Meanwhile, the DCC sweepers in Dayaganj yesterday demanded examining the structural integrity of the southern part of the building before they move in. They also said they would not take their allotments if that part was not examined properly.

The two-part building was designed for 60 families. The northern part of the building was meant for 30 families. The construction work of the building was completed recently and was supposed to have the first families move in on June 3.