Dhaka Cloth Market ablaze, causing significant pre-Eid to businesses.
A massive fire burned thousands shops at cloth market in Dhaka, leaving shop owners upset only weeks before Eid, the Muslim Celebration marking the end of Ramadan. Hundreds of firefighters and Army Soldiers battled the inferno as it ripped through the garment market, reducing it to ashes.
The fire extinguishers around 12:45 pm local time (06:45 GMT) on Tuesday, more than six hours after it began at Bangabazar Market.
Bangladesh Cloth Market Incident, more than 2,000 shops burned.. pic.twitter.com/V8e1t3m3d9
— Hamad Siddiqui (@hammad_sidiki) April 7, 2023
Many persons have been injured, but no fatalities have been reported. Officials were still investigating the cause of the fire. Bangabazar Shop Owners Association, at least 3000 Establishments, largely made of tin and wood, were completely destroyed in fire.
There were readymade garment products worth hundreds of Millions of Dollars on the market. Eid is just over two weeks away, so most stores had excess supplies, According to DM Habib
“I am at a loss for words to explain the enormous grief that all of us are experiencing.” The majority of dealers felt anguish and helplessness. One business owner remarked, “I borrowed 1.5 million takas ($14,100) to buy Eid apparel.” “I have nothing left.”
Store owner Akter Hossain and two of his employees were observed attempting to remove apparel merchandise from their burning shop while bystanders prevented them from approaching the flames.
“I just spent roughly a million taka ($9,500) on new outfits for Eid.” All of those have been reduced to ashes. “How will I ever get over this?”
The Dhaka South City Corporation manages Bangabazar, which has a long history of fire dangers. According to government records, at least six small to medium fire accidents occurred in the market over the last decade.
“This time, though, the fire is big,” Habib remarked. “It reminds me of a fire that destroyed the entire market in 1995.”
Monitoring Report
The market is a popular destination for low-cost Western fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, which sell items made in the city’s garment factories but failed to meet export standards.
Rafi Al Faruk, a local fire services officer, told The Associated Press News Agency by phone that the fire started at 6:10 a.m. (12:10 GMT) on Tuesday.
The operation to put out the fire involved 48 Fire Service and Civil Defence units, as well as rescue teams from the army, Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Detective Branch (DB), and air force.
Another fire service official, Anwarul Islam, stated that the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
Hundreds of people were seen watching the fire from a nearby flyover, according to aerial footage.
Because of inadequate supervision and a lack of fire safety precautions, fires occur often in commercial venues in Bangladesh.
Source: Al-Jazeera
