A night of flames, a future of uncertainty

Chawkbazar traders fear losing life savings in Monday’s fire

For some traders, bags worth Tk 40 lakh may have gone up in flames. For others, the fire could mean losing cosmetics and other goods worth crores of taka. With their working capital and livelihoods at stake, they waited anxiously outside the building, unable to assess the damage.

This was the scene at Mansur Khan Plaza in Chhoto Katara Goli, Chawkbazar, Old Dhaka, yesterday afternoon, as traders feared their life savings had been reduced to ashes.

Businesses in another 10 to 15 nearby buildings also suffered losses as their premises remained shut for safety reasons.

The fire broke out shortly after 5:00pm on Monday and was brought under control at 5:20am yesterday. However, the extent of the damage remained unclear as thick smoke, intense heat and the removal of burnt goods prevented traders from entering the building.

Mohammad Robin, who owns a warehouse on the sixth floor, said he had been waiting outside since learning of the fire.

“Our warehouse is on the right side of the sixth floor, where the fire broke out. We still cannot enter. There were bags worth around Tk 40 lakh inside. If everything has been burnt, I will be ruined,” he said.

Robin said the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the seven-storey building housed more than 50 warehouses stocking bags and cosmetics, with goods worth an estimated Tk 20 lakh to Tk 40 lakh in each. The lower floors housed shops selling similar products.

Mohammad Imtiaz, who owns a bag shop on the ground floor, said, “The fire broke out at 5:00pm on Monday, and smoke was still coming out of the building at 10:00am on Tuesday. Our question is why it took so long to control the fire.”

Fire service officials, however, said narrow roads, traffic congestion, intense heat, thick smoke and locked warehouse shutters had hampered firefighting efforts.

Kazi Nazmuzzaman, assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the sixth floor suffered the most damage, with seven to eight of its 12 to 14 large warehouses catching fire.

The warehouses contained umbrellas, cosmetics, perfume bottles and other goods. Damage to the seventh floor was comparatively limited, he said.

Nazmuzzaman said firefighters had to cut through multiple locks on warehouse shutters and internal gates. They also had to find alternative water sources after nearby reserves ran low.

The cause of the fire remained unclear. Officials said an electrical short circuit was among the possibilities, but an inquiry would be needed to determine the cause.

Security barriers were erected around the building, with police guarding the entrance cordoned off with crime-scene tape. Workers were seen removing goods from shops on other floors amid fears of the fire spreading.

Shah Alam, an employee at a bag shop, said business had been running normally the previous day before the blaze changed everything.

Building caretaker Md Mojibullah said firefighters had continued pouring water into the building since Monday afternoon, but smoke was still billowing from inside.