AMTALI, Barguna — A fire destroyed five businesses in Amtali upazila early Thursday, with shop owners estimating losses of about 40 lakh taka (about $33,000), they said.
The blaze broke out around 1 a.m. in the Gochkhali Badhghat area of Gulishakhali union, residents and fire officials said.
Local accounts and the fire service indicated the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit. A unit from the Amtali Fire Service and Civil Defence reached the scene and brought the flames under control after about an hour and a half with the help of residents.
The damaged shops were Mosharraf Hossain’s Chatra Bandhu Library; a grocery store run jointly by Khokon Howlader and Idris Molla; Abu Taher’s pharmacy; and Jugol Babu’s shop.
Abu Taher, one of the owners, said he had closed his shop and gone home for the night as usual. “At night I got word that the shop was on fire. I couldn’t pull out a single taka’s worth of goods,” he said. “Everything burned. I am now destitute.”
Faruk Hossain, acting chairman of the Gulishakhali union council, said he had visited the scene. “Four shops were completely burned and one was partially damaged,” he said. “An initial estimate of the loss is about 40 lakh taka.”
Md. Hanif, warehouseman at the Amtali Fire Service station, said an electrical short circuit was suspected as the cause. He estimated the damage at about 15 lakh taka.
Mohammad Jafar Arif Chowdhury, the Amtali upazila executive officer, said he had been informed about the late-night fire. The upazila administration will provide necessary assistance to the affected businesses, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report