A 21-year-old man was charred to death and 70-80 shops were gutted in a fire that broke out at Kasaipatti of Kaptan Bazar in the capital’s Gulistan area in the early hours of Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Md Yeasin.
Deputy assistant director (media cell) at the Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters, Shahjahan Sikder said the fire broke out at a shop around 4.45 am and soon engulfed the adjoining kiosks in the bazar.
Some 12 fire tenders managed to contain the blaze around 6am and they took another two hours to douse the flames completely around 8am.
Later, the firemen recovered the charred body of Yeasin from a shop, said Dewan Azad, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defense Control room.
“Some 70-80 shops were also gutted in the fire. A probe has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the fire,” he added.
Fire accidents in Bangladesh
The number of fire accidents in Bangladesh has increased four times over the last two decades as the country’s urban areas are expanding without basic infrastructure like fire stations.
According to the data provided by the Fire Service and Civil Defence, around 285,000 instances of fire occurred in the country between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2020.
These fires also caused an estimated financial loss of around Tk6,900 crore to the state exchequer.
Besides, at least 2,308 people were killed in fires across the country between 2004 and 2020, the fire service data shows.
The year 2019 saw the highest number of 24,074 fire accidents, while 2020 witnessed the second highest of 21,073.
As per the statistics of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, around 99,752 fires occurred in the country between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020.
Source: United News of Bangladesh