Fire sweeps through Bangladesh market

A fire raged through a crowded downtown Dhaka market today, gutting nearly 1,800 bamboo and tin shops, killing at least one person and injuring nearly 15 others, a fire official said.

More than twenty fire units from across the city fought the blaze, which spread quickly through the market in the downtown Gulistan commercial area, fire official Selim Newaz Bhuiyan said.

At least 15 people – mostly firefighters – were injured as they negotiated crammed passages among smouldering debris to put out the blaze or escape.

The fire is thought to have originated in a shoe shop, Bhuiyan said.

Investigators were trying to determine the cause, he said, but witnesses said it might have been started by an electrical short circuit.

“I saw some sparks on an electric wire leading to the shop and suddenly, it was on fire,” said Mohammad Iqbal Hossain, who has a shop in a two-story building next door.

Hossain said he was standing on a balcony at the time and alerted the fire service.

There were few shoppers around when the fire broke out around 9.15am local time, because most shops were closed following a week-long religious holiday.

With the blaze mostly under control nearly four hours later, rescuers were searching through the gutted shops for victims, but there were unlikely to be any survivors, Bhuiyan said.

Rescuers earlier found the charred body of a man, believed to be a squatter, from inside a burned-out shop.

Thick, black smoke and a pungent smell filled the air.

Stacks of scorched goods – whatever shopkeepers could rescue from the fire - lined the surrounding streets. Bewildered shopkeepers stood by, staring blankly or crying.

“I have lost almost everything. I only managed to carry out these in my hands,” said Liton Ahmed, sobbing and holding up a few dresses. Ahmed’s tiny clothes shop was burned to the ground.

The market committee could not immediately estimate the overall loss because shop owners were still assessing the damage.

Police were deployed to control crowds of passers-by and traffic was temporarily halted in the busy downtown area.

Dhaka City Mayor Sadek Hossain visited the area and promised a prompt investigation into the fire.

The market, owned by the Dhaka City Corp., houses small shops selling mostly cheap clothes, shoes and accessories.