Bangladesh: Massive fire at Dhaka's shopping center, military forces deployed
What's the story
A massive fire broke out at a popular shopping center in Bangladesh's Dhaka, spreading to nearly 1,500 shops and forcing the country's military to intervene, reported Reuters. The fire began at 5:45am (local time) on Saturday on the second floor of the New Supermarket, which quickly gutted other floors, per PTI. The shopping center is situated between the popular New Market and Dhaka College.
Details
Government deploys paramilitary force to control fire
To douse the raging inferno, the Bangladesh government rushed 12 platoons of the Border Guard Bangladesh paramilitary force to the spot, local media reported. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with 28 fire service units, also reached the site to bring the fire under control. Furthermore, the cause of the fire was unknown, and no casualties have been reported so far.
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2nd such fire incident this month in Bangladesh
Notably, this is the second big fire incident in Bangladesh in a month. On April 4, a huge fire swept through a crowded shopping complex in Dhaka, which destroyed around 5,000 stores and injured several firefighters. In another incident in March, 23 people were killed after an explosion took place at a market in the capital city, allegedly due to a faulty gas line.