A factory in the northern city of Rangpur, which manufactured handcrafted rug “Shatranji”, has been gutted in a massive fire.
Flames erupted at the decades-old factory in the city’s Nishbetganj around Friday midnight, said the fire service.
It took two fire-fighting units more than two hours to put out the flames, said Firefighter Afzal Hossain of the Rangpur Fire Service and Civil Defence.
An electrical short-circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire, he said.
Factory owner Rafiqul Islam estimated the losses at Tk25 lakh.
According to him, more than a hundred looms and vehicles parked on the premises have been completely burnt down.
“Some 50 women worked at the factory. I had been operating the factory in losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s impossible for me now to reopen it without the government’s assistance,” he told Dhaka Tribune.