Dhaka: A massive pre-dawn fire gutted thousands of shops at a shopping centre here on Saturday, forcing the country’s military to make frantic attempts to douse the raging inferno, days after a popular clothing market was partially destroyed.
The fire started at the second floor of New SuperMarket, a shopping centre between the popular Newmarket and Dhaka College at 5.45 am and quickly spread to other floors, Newmarket Police Station chief Shafiqul Gani Sabu, was quoted as saying by news portal bdnews24.com.
Teams from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force battled to douse the raging inferno.
The Bangladesh government deployed 12 platoons of the Border Guard Bangladesh, a paramilitary force, to help bring the fire under control, local media reports said.
As many as 28 units of the fire service are also battling the blaze.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and no casualties were reported so far, Shahjahan Sikder, assistant deputy director of the fire service told bdnews24.com.
Shop owners rushed to the market after hearing the news of the fire, trying to salvage as many goods as they could, according to Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
Many of them burst into tears upon seeing their shops go up in flames, it said.
Saturday’s incident comes days after another major fire gutted thousands of shops at a popular clothing market here.
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Building fires and explosions caused by leaking gas cylinders, faulty air conditioners and bad electrical wiring are frequent in Bangladesh.
Last month, at least 23 people were killed in an explosion at a central Dhaka market, which was later blamed on a bad gas line.
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