12 shops, 5 houses gutted

Twelve shops and five houses were gutted in fire incidents in Badarganj and Taraganj upazilas of the district on Friday.

In Badarganj, fire destroyed 12 shops in Boardhaat area around 8:00pm.

Golam Mostafa, station officer of Badarganj Fire Service Station, said the fire originated from an electric short circuit at a laundry shop owned by one Shahidul Islam and soon engulfed 11 other adjacent shops.

On information, three fire fighting units from Badarganj, Parbatipur in Dinajpur and Saidpur in Nilphamari rushed to the spot and doused the flames after two hours of frantic efforts.

Away in Taraganj, fire gutted five houses at Hajipur village in the upazila early yesterday.

Fire service sources said the fire originated from a mosquito coil at the house of one Abdul Jalil of the village around 12:30am and soon engulfed four other adjacent houses.