A fire at Mansur Khan Plaza in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar damaged seven to eight warehouses, with the sixth floor suffering the heaviest losses. The affected warehouses stored umbrellas, cosmetics, attar and other goods, while the total financial damage remains undetermined.

Assistant Director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department Kazi Nazmuzaman shared the details at a briefing on Tuesday morning, October 13.

The fire was brought under control at around 5:20 am after a prolonged firefighting operation. However, six Fire Service units remained at the scene to extinguish residual flames as smoke continued to emerge while damaged goods were being removed.

Between 100 and 150 firefighters took part in the operation. Firefighting efforts were complicated by narrow access roads, locked warehouse doors, collapsible gates, inadequate ventilation and water shortages. Firefighters had to cut through multiple locks to enter some warehouses.

According to the Fire Service official, Mansur Khan Plaza has 12 to 14 large warehouses on its sixth floor. Although flames directly affected seven to eight of them, goods in other warehouses were also damaged by water used during firefighting. The seventh floor sustained comparatively less damage.

Firefighters also prevented the blaze from spreading to three or four nearby markets, despite several moments when the fire threatened to spread beyond the building.

Although the building had firefighting equipment, shopkeepers could not bring the blaze under control because of its intensity.

The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed. Kazi Nazmuzaman said an investigation would begin after the fire was completely extinguished. A short circuit is one possible cause, but no conclusion can be drawn before the investigation.

Four Fire Service personnel became ill due to heat and heavy smoke and were kept under hospital observation.