Fire breaks out in Sundarbans

A fire broke out in the Sundarbans East Zone under Mongal upazila of Bagerhat on Wednesday. DFO of the Sundarbans East Zone M Amir Hossain Chowdhury said forest guards first spotted the fire near Gulishakhali Camp under Chandpai Range in the afternoon. Trees on a three-acre land were burned down as the fire was razing through the world’s largest mangrove forest till filing of the report around 10:30pm. The DFO said a team of 60 forest guards were struggling to douse the blaze that might have originated from a cigarette butt. He said a fire lane was dug surrounding a 3.5-acre area so that the flame cannot spread through other parts of the forest, hoping to extinguish the fire within several hours, according to a news agency.