Six shops were gutted in a massive fire at Poujan Bazar in Tangail's Kalihati upazila early Sunday causing an estimated loss of Tk.16 lakh.
The fire broke out around midnight in Sahadebpur Union, reportedly starting at a chicken feed shop owned by Sajal Chandra Saha and Gautam Kumar Deb due to an electrical short circuit. Locals said flames quickly spread to neighbouring shops.
The shops destroyed included the chicken feed shop of Sajal Chandra Saha and Gautam Kumar Deb, Babu's television repair shop, Abdul Kader's shoe shop, Rajiv Kumar's salon, Sohel Rana's chicken feed shop and Sadhan Chandra Saha's grocery store.
Fire Service and Civil Defense teams from Kalihati and Elenga rushed to the scene upon receiving the report and brought the blaze under control.
Ataur Rahman, Station Officer-in-Charge of Elenga Fire Service and Civil Defense said his team received the alert at 12:08 am and reached the spot within about 10 minutes. Eight firefighters worked for roughly an hour to bring the fire under control.
While the fire is believed to have started from an electrical short circuit, Rahman said the exact cause and full extent of the damage are still being verified.
