Fire guts goods at Motijheel commercial building

Huge computer accessories and valuables burnt in a devastating fire at a commercial building in the capital's business hub Motijheel on Saturday morning. Fire-brigade sources said the blaze erupted about 9:26 am on the second floor of the three-storied building, housing six godowns of six commercial companies, including a storeroom for air-freshener, on that floor. "On information, 11 units of firefighters, including from the headquarters, rushed in and put out the blaze at about 12:15pm after around three hours of frantic effort," says a firsthand account of the incident. Fire brigade said the fire spread "rapidly in the entire floor due to release of volatile chemicals" following the explosion of a number of canisters of air-freshener. Reasons behind the fire could not be ascertained immediately. The affected companies claimed that valuables worth over Tk 50 million were gutted in the fire. — UNB