Fire burns 50 shops

A fire gutted at least 50 shops of Ranjganj Bazar in Cumilla city early yesterday.

Shahalam, a shopkeeper, said, “The fire started at 2:45am. It intensified as various cosmetics items, including body sprays, were stored in most of the shops.”

Six firefighting units from the city, Chandina, Sadar South and EPZ areas brought the blaze under control in three hours, said Alamgir Hossain, senior assistant manager of Cumilla Fire Station. “Forty shops were badly damaged.”

The reason behind the fire could not be known immediately, said fire service. No casualty was reported.

Affected shop owners claims that the fire caused a loss of Tk 5 crore.