The fire destroyed thousands of garment shops, causing a huge blow to businesses just weeks before the Eid season.
A massive fire has destroyed dozens of shops at a major garment market in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, leaving shop owners devastated weeks before Eid, the Muslim celebration that marks the end of Ramadan.
Hundreds of firefighters and army soldiers battled the inferno as it ravaged the garment market, reducing it to ashes. The fire was extinguished around 12:45pm local time (06:45 GMT), more than six hours after it began in Bangabazar Market early Tuesday.
Several people were injured, but no deaths have been recorded thus far. Authorities were still trying to determine the cause of the fire.
D M Habib, an official with the Bangabazar Shop Owners’ Association, told Al Jazeera that the fire destroyed at least 3,000 establishments, most of which were made of tin and wood.
“The market has prefabricated garments worth hundreds of millions. Most of the establishments had additional supplies because Eid is little over two weeks away,” Habib remarked.
“I am unable to describe the massive loss all of us are incurring.”
Most dealers voiced anguish and helplessness.
“I borrowed 1.5 million taka ($14,100) to buy Eid clothing,” one business owner explained. “I have lost everything.”
Shop owner Akter Hossain and two of his employees were observed attempting to retrieve apparel stock from their burning shop while onlookers prevented them from approaching the flames.
Dhaka South City Corporation manages Bangabazar, which has a long history of fire dangers. According to government records, there have been at least six small to medium fire accidents in the market over the last decade.
“The fire this time, however, is massive,” explained Habib. “It reminds me of a fire in 1995 in which the whole market was burnt down.”
The market is a popular destination for low-cost Western fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger, who sell items manufactured in the city’s garment factories but did not fulfil export standards.
‘Lax monitoring.’
The fire erupted at 6:10 a.m. (12:10 GMT) on Tuesday, according to Rafi Al Faruk, a local fire official who spoke with The Associated Press by phone.
The mission to contain the blaze involved approximately 48 Fire Service and Civil Defence units, as well as rescue teams from the army, police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Detective Branch (DB), and the air force.
Another fire service officer, Anwarul Islam, stated that they have yet to ascertain the source of the incident.
Aerial film captured hundreds of people viewing the fire from a nearby flyover.
Fires frequently occur in commercial establishments in Bangladesh due to weak monitoring and a lack of fire protection measures.
However, circumstances in the country’s massive garment sector, which has previously faced severe calamities such as disastrous fires, have greatly improved over the last decade.
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