Bangladesh fire service seeks sabotage probe after second market blaze

Bangladesh’s fire department said it will request an intelligence probe into possible sabotage after a blaze gutted thousands of shops at a shopping center in Dhaka on Saturday, just days after another massive fire destroyed a popular clothing market.

The blaze at New Supermarket in central Dhaka took 28 firefighting units several hours to bring under control.

Teams, including the military, remained at the site to contain smoke that was still spewing from the shopping complex in the evening.

The incident came less than two weeks after another blaze destroyed thousands of shops in Dhaka’s crowded Bangabazar, a popular market that had recently stocked up on goods ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.

“One after another fire incident is taking place. I will call on the intelligence agencies to check if there is any sabotage,” Brig. Gen. Md. Moin Uddin, director-general of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defense, told reporters.

Army and air force personnel were called to New Supermarket to help bring the fire under control as flames quickly spread across the cramped three-story complex.

At least 28 people, including 19 firemen, were injured in the blaze, Lt. Col. Mohammed Tajul Islam Chowdhury, the fire department’s operations director, said.

“Our teams are working. Hopefully, the operation will be completed by tonight. Members from other armed forces, law enforcement agencies, volunteers and civilians were also injured and are now under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital,” he said, adding that more 1,300 shops in the complex were damaged.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

“It always takes time to determine the cause of a fire. An investigation committee will be formed shortly,” Chowdhury said.

Building and industrial fires have killed hundreds of Bangladeshis in recent years, drawing attention to faulty electrical and gas installations.

Last month, at least 23 people were killed and dozens injured when an explosion ripped through a building in a crowded area of Dhaka.

The blast was later blamed on a faulty gas line.