A total of 10 shops in Khulna and 8 shops in Tangail were gutted by fire on Thursday night.
On Thursday night around 10:20pm, a fire started in a jute sack warehouse in Borobazar Barmashil area in Khulna town and rapidly spread in the surrounding areas.
Local traders reported that around an excessively loaded truck, while passing through Barmashil road in Khulna town, tore down an electrical wire along the roadside. From the broken wire, a fire broke out in a jute sack warehouse named Messrs. Ahsan Ullah. Within a short time, the fire spread to the nearby warehouse of Saiful Islam and several other shops. Seven units of the fire service worked to control the fire.
The damage caused by the fire is estimated to be at least Tk one crore.
The Deputy Assistant Director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Khulna, Abu Bakar Zaman, said that they received the news at 10:20pm and arrived at the scene shortly after. After two hours of efforts, they were able to bring the fire under control. However, due to the presence of stacked jute, smoke continued to emerge from some areas. To address this, multiple units of the fire service stayed at the site overnight.
Following the fire, the local power division shut off the power supply in the area. Many people gathered at the site after hearing about the fire, and some even helped the fire service in extinguishing the flames. However, the work was disrupted due to the large crowd, and the police had to repeatedly clear the area to allow the fire service to continue their work. Meanwhile, eight shops were gutted at Auliabad Bazar in Kalihati upazila of Tangail on Thursday night as well. The fire originated from an electric short circuit at a shop of Auliabad Bazar around 10:00pm and soon engulfed the adjacent business establishments. As a result, eight shops were gutted, Kalihati Fire Service Station Officer Manjurul Islam said.
Being informed, three firefighters units of Kalihati and Ghatail upazilas Fire Services and Civil Defense rushed to the spot and doused the blaze with the help of locals and affected businessmen after two hours of efforts, he said. The extent of the damage of the fire is about Tk 50 lakh, he added.
