Millions lost in Otobi fire

Otobi's biggest factory gutted in a blaze on Wednesday that destroyed furniture worth hundreds of millions of Taka at Savar in the outskirts of the city. Fire Service officials said the fire broke out around 9:45pm on Tuesday at the factory at Khagan at Birulia Union under Savar Upazila. It was brought under control at about 4am on Wednesday. The leading furniture maker’s officials said several people suffered burns but there were no specifics. They said the fire had gutted the entire factory, which was set up over 30 bighas of land with corrugated tin roof over walls. Otobi’s Chief Production Officer Faruk Ibne Raihan said expensive machinery, raw materials and furniture had been lost in the fire. “The finished furniture inside that factory alone were worth about Tk 500 million,” he said. He said this was the popular furniture maker’s largest factory, from which wooden furniture were exported all over the world. Eleven fire-fighting units from Savar, Ashulia, Tongi, EPZ, Dhamrai and Dhaka Central stations fought the blaze for about six hours. Fire Service Director Major AKM Shakil Newaz said the fire spread quickly because of the stored chemicals inside. Chemical-filled drums exploded frequently with loud noise, he said. Savar Model Police Station OC Mostofa Kamal said they were yet to confirm the total loss or any casualties. Otobi officials said an electrical short-circuit caused the fire but firefighters said investigations will determine that, according to bdnews24.com.