Sitakunda cotton godown fire: Army, Navy in to control blaze

Sitakunda cotton godown fire

Chattogram, March 12 --Bangladesh Army and Navy joined Fire Service and Civil Defence in fighting the fire that broke out Saturday morning at a cotton godown in front of a container depot in Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram.

Firefighting units of the Army and Navy reached the spot around 9:30pm to assist the fire service, said Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman.

Meanwhile, a 10-member probe committee, headed by Chattogram deputy director (local government) Badiul Alam, has been formed to investigate the fire.

“The committee has been asked to submit a report within 5 working days,” Mohammad Fakhruzzaman added.

Shafiqul Islam, station officer of Chattogram Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the fire started at the cotton warehouse of ‘Unitex Group’ in front of the ‘Namson Container Depot’ in Chhoto Kumira area around 10:30am.

On information, five firefighting units from two stations responded to the fire and almost brought the blaze under control around 12:00pm, he added.

But as the fire flared up again, firefighters struggled to douse the fire due to a lack of a constant supply of water in the area, senior Fire Service officer Sultan Mahmud said.

Later, four additional units joined the operation, he added.

The origin of the fire and the extent of damage could not be ascertained immediately, he added.

Earlier on March 4, six people were burned to death and around 33 sustained injuries in a fire after a massive blast at ‘Seema Oxygen Plant’ in the upazila. - UNB