20240404 Fire at jute mill in Khulna tamed after 8 hours
Bangladesh Apr 04 2024 “Warehouses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire at jute mill in Khulna tamed after 8 hours
Updated: 2024-04-04
Emergency workers and Navy personnel have contained a fire that engulfed a jute mill in Khulna’s Rupsha Upazila after an 8-hour operation.
The fire at Salam Jute Mill was brought under control around 1:30am on Thursday, said Faruk Hossain Shikder, assistant director of Khulna Fire Service.
By then, however, the fire had charred four warehouses, burning raw and processed jute.
The Fire Service was alerted after locals noticed flames raging at the mill around 5:30pm on Wednesday.
Despite efforts to contain the fire, the flames spread rapidly to the warehouses.
Faruk said four units from Rupsha and Tutpara fire stations rushed to the mill and battled the flames.
Another 12 units from other nearby areas subsequently joined the efforts as the fire continued to spread. Members of the Navy were later called in to aid the emergency responders.
According to a Fire Service official, the blaze intensified quickly as the jute mill was not equipped with a fire management system.
The origin of the fire could not be confirmed, and no casualties were reported.
Bashir Ahmed, the mill’s manager, believes an electrical short-circuit caused by a technical glitch in a machine may have triggered the fire at warehouse No. 3, which then spread to three other warehouses.
Owner MA Salam claimed the three warehouses had 750 tonnes of jute products worth Tk 105 million, and 1,300 tonnes of raw jute worth Tk 200 million.
He estimated that the total damage, including the machinery, amounted to around Tk 1 billion.
Web Source Bdnews24