Black smoke filled the air as a pre-dawn fire engulfed the New Super Market in the capital, forcing fire service to mobilise 28 of their units at the scene and military, paramilitary and police joining their hands to to extinguish the blaze, reports BSS.
Fire service officials said the incident was reported to them at about 5.40 am and they immediately sent the units to the scene, one after another, and there had been no reported deaths from the blaze.
TV footages showed army, navy, air force and paramilitary Bangladesh Border Guard personnel along with police joined hands to help the fire fighters while businessmen rushed to the market in their apparent futile efforts to save their belongings at the shops.
The fire service could not ascertain immediately what might have caused the fire but the incident came just 11 days after a pre-dawn blaze in a near identical manner broke out and burned several thousand shops at Dhaka’s Bangabazar clothing market.
The Bangabazar fire devastated the shop owners by the loss weeks ahead of the Eid since efforts of hundreds of firefighters and army personnel could do little to save their belongings as the inferno tore through the clothing market, turning them into a pile of ashes.
The New Super Market today also went up in flames, before the daily businesses had opened.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
