100 gutted shops to miss Eid sales

About 100 shops gutted by a fire at Bashundhara City Shopping Complex are unlikely to reopen before Eid-ul-Azha as it will take more time to clean up the debris and restore the outlets.

“We are working with the authorities of Bashundhara mall in trying to reopen the market in a day or two,” MA Hannan Azad, president of the association, said yesterday.

But the shops burnt by the fire on Sunday on Block C of the mall's sixth floor will take longer time to resume sales, he added.

What caused the fire is still unknown and losses are estimated to be around Tk 50 crore, according to Azad. Fire service officials and mall authorities are yet to assess the extent of losses caused by the blaze.

Mall authorities yesterday allowed shop owners to enter and check their shops and take necessary steps.

Ajit Kumar Bhowmik, deputy director of fire services (planning), who is also the head of a five-member probe committee formed by the department, said the panel visited the spot and is working to identify the reason behind the fire.

“We are assessing the extent of damage to the traders. We need three to four more days to calculate the loss.” 

Firefighters continued their work at the multi-storey mall to assist the shoppers to clean up the burnt-out goods, said Jasim Uddin, the mall's head of marketing.

Monir Hossain, a trader on the sixth floor, said he had imported shoes worth around Tk 2 crore in three shops to sell ahead of Eid. “Everything in my three shops was burnt. The fire ruined everything. I don't know when I will be able to reopen my shops.”

Synthetic and polythene objects were burnt inside the shops, which made it difficult for firefighters to determine any hidden blaze. According to fire service officials, as many as 29 fire engines were used in the operation. Eleven people, trapped on the rooftop, were rescued unharmed.

The Bashundhara mall, one of the biggest in Bangladesh, houses about 2,300 shops in addition to food courts, Cineplex and gymnasiums.

This is the fifth fire incident at the market and the adjacent 20-storey building, which has been used as Bashundhara's office since 2009, according to shop owners and employees.