A devastating fire broke out at a building in the Dilkusha commercial district of the capital’s Motijheel area yesterday.
Although no casualties were reported in the blaze, a fire service official fell ill while on duty. Rafiqul Islam, assistant director of the Dhaka fire service, is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Twelve fire fighting units rushed to the spot around 3:20pm and were still working to extinguish the fire at 10pm yesterday, according to the Fire Service and Civil Defence control centre.
Witnesses and fire service sources said the fire broke out around 3pm at the Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BICFL) office located on the second floor of the seven storey Mia Amanullah Building. Ataur Rahman, duty officer of the fire service control room, said: “We have not got any casualty reports, but one of our officials was admitted to hospital.”
Thousands thronged the area as smoke billowed out of the building, enveloping nearby roads and footpaths.
Besides the BIFCL office, building tenants include Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Prime Finance and other commercial enterprises. Fire service officials said the building was full of documents making it difficult to douse the flames.
ATM Shakil Newaz Khan, operation and maintenance director of the fire service, said that because the building was full of smoke, it was taking time to douse the fire completely.
“But it is under control,” he said.
