42 shops were gutted in a fire at Eidgaon in Cox’s Bazar. Two people were injured in the fire.
The fire started at 5 am on Wednesday (May 22) in the traditional furniture market at Banshghata of Eidgaon Bazar.
The injured are Shafiq (35) son of Babul of Haripur village of Islamabad Union and Kamal Uddin (30) son of Enamul Haque of Yushuferkhil village.
Firefighting teams from Ramu and Chakaria fire service stations came and brought the fire under control after about 3 hours.
Among the injured, Shafiq’s condition is said to be critical. He has been admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
The other injured Kamal is undergoing treatment at District Sadar Hospital, said furniture trader Abhar.
The traders said that the fire started from an electrical short circuit. In the fire, 42 furniture showrooms and factories were burnt and the damage was estimated to be more than six crore rupees.
The affected shop owners are Iqbal, Islam, Muslim Khan, Zamir Khan, Ilyach Mia, Sirajul Islam, Abu Siddique, Nurul Amin, Nurul Islam, Mozaffar Ahmad, Faridul Alam, Forkan Ahmad, Rafiq, Jasim, Farooq, Ghiyas, Babul, Kashem and Shah Jahan and others.
The victims said that a large amount of ready-made furniture, valuable equipment for furniture making and finishing, sized scrap, thousands of cubic feet of sawn timber, hardware, valuable papers and storehouses were burnt in the fire.
Leader of Ramu Fire Station Md. Hasan Chowdhury said that after receiving the news of the fire, the locals started to put out the fire. After some time, three units of Ramu and Chakaria fire stations simultaneously started dousing the fire. The fire was brought under control after 3 hours of continuous efforts. Leader Hasan also said that the origin of the fire and the amount of damage will be reported subject to investigation.
Eidgaon upazila executive officer Subal Chakma told daily Naya Diganta that the upazila project implementation officer has been given the responsibility to assess the damage caused by the fire. UNO also said that the damages will be assessed based on the information provided by the applicants.