City market ravaged by 16-hour blaze More than 300 shops burnt, part of building collapses; mayor rules out sabotage claim by businessmen

Dhaka desk: A devastating fire reduced much of the Dhaka North City Corporation market in Gulshan-1 to rubble yesterday.

No one was killed or hurt in the blaze that swept through the two-storey building for about 16 hours since around 2:00am.

However, hundreds of shops were gutted and a portion of the market collapsed on impact, causing losses worth hundreds of crores of taka.

Businessmen claimed the fire was an act of sabotage, but fire service officials said they were yet to ascertain the cause.

Several security guards who were on duty at night said the fire originated from an explosion of a transformer, only a few feet away from the market.

“Around 2:00am, I saw a fire at a transformer on the southeastern corner of the market,” said Nur Mohammad, a security guard. “I screamed and ran with my colleague Matiur Rahman to that place. Matiur tried to douse the fire using a fire extinguisher, but the fire spread so fast.”

The market housed 543 shops, including those of kitchen and household items, furniture, clothes, electronic appliances, shoes and bakery.

Although some shop owners managed to save some items, owners of 309 shops at the collapsed portion known as DNCC “Kancha Market” could not.

The fire came under control around 5:45pm. Over a 100 firefighters from 22 units took part in the operation, said Major Shakil Newaj, director (operation) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Two units from navy also joined the efforts within two hours after the fire started.

The extent of the loss is yet to be determined, but officials of the market committee put it between Tk 200 crore and 5,000 crore.

Sher Mohammad, chairman of DNCC Kancha Market Businessmen's Association, said, “We are sure it was an act of sabotage. Otherwise, how could such a big building collapse?”

However, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq ruled out such a possibility.

Asked to comment on the businessmen's claim, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia skirted the question, telling reporters on the spot, “Let's douse the fire first.”

The fire service formed a seven-member committee to look into the cause of the fire. The committee will submit its report in 15 working days.

The first to respond were three fire service units from Baridhara. They reached the spot around 2:40am within 10 minutes of being informed.

 But SM Talal Rezvi, chairman of another association of the market, claimed a security guard informed him about the fire around 2:00am.

The first responders ran out of water soon, he said, adding that had the fire service responded sooner, the blaze could have been contained before it spread to the other parts of the building.

Fire service Deputy Director Shomor Biswas said they could not douse the fire sooner because of the collapsed part of the building. Firefighters could not enter there to contain the blaze.

Also, the lack of an open source of water close by made it difficult for them to control the fire initially. Later, they used the water from the Gulshan Lake, about 700 metres from the market, said Major Shakil Newaj.

“Fire service vehicles have fixed quantity of water. So when that water runs out, we need to collect water from outside sources. It took us time to carry water from outside,” he said.

He also said that the market lacked its own firefighting system.

But Md Salauddin, finance secretary of the market, said they had their own fire extinguishers. But the fire spread so quickly that they had no chance to use those.

As the firefighters were battling the fire in the morning, businessman Nurul Islam said, “It's only a two-storey building on the main road and with lakes nearby. Why is it taking so long for them to douse it?”

His shop that sold various items, including crockery and clothes, has been badly affected. But he could not give an estimate of his loss as he could not enter his shop.

Like him, a few hundred businessmen were staring all day at the rising flame as it engulfed their shops, their means of living, one by one. Many tried to save whatever they could daring the blaze. Some could, but most could not.

It was not immediately clear what compensation policy the market has in place in case of such an incident.