One was injured in the fire that blazed Rajdhani Super Market, one of the biggest shopping malls in Dhaka, that was doused one and a half hours after it broke out.
However, a security guard, Md Momin, 30, who suffered injuries from inhaling toxic smoke was rescued by the firefighters from the building and brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment.
The year saw several fire incidents. On March 27, a fire engulfed FR Tower in Banani, leaving 25 people dead and 73 injured. Earlier on February 20, a fire tore through several buildings in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta area of Old Dhaka killing 71 people and injuring scores.
The Fire Service needed 25 units to control the fire by 6:45pm yesterday.
With time, the intensity of fire mounted, and so did the flame and smoke. The electricity of the whole area was cut off. Of the two-storey market, the tin-shed first floor was damaged, while the ground floor is intact.
Rajdhani Super Market catches fire on November 20, 2019 | Dhaka Tribune“Primarily we assume that 10 to 12 shops are torched. And we will be able to identify the cause behind the fire after the probe committee submits the report,” Fire Service and Civil Defence Deputy Director Debashis Bardhan told reporters.
“The market had no fire distinguishing measures,” he added.
The first floor contains cloths, tailoring and cosmetics shops, according to businesspersons at the market.
They said there are 400 to 500 shops on the first floor, while the ground floor contains about 1,500 shops.
However, the north-facing side of the New Rajdhani Super Market is two-storied where the fire started. But no one is certain from which shop the fire broke out.
The market, supervised by Bangladesh Freedom fighter Welfare Trust, was established in 1995. Cloths, cosmetics, jewellery and other goods are sold here.
