The fire that broke out in the Sundarbans East Zone under Mongal upazila on Wednesday, has gutted some three to four acre of areas till Thursday afternoon.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans east zone M Amir Hossain Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune: “Trees on a three-four-acre land have already been burned down. But, the fire is now under control.
A team of 60 forest guards are struggling to douse the blaze,” he added.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Officer of Sharonkhola range Ariful Haque said: “The officials of forest department, tiger team, fire fighters along with locals are trying to douse the fire. It is now under control and we will douse it within a short span of time.”
Abul Kalam Azad, the range officer of Chandpai Range of the district, said: “The fire will be extinguished within Thursday evening.”
The fire broke out around 10:30pm on Wednesday. According to forest department, the fire might have originated from a cigarette butt.
The extent of the damage could not be estimated immediately, said forest department officials.
