A devastating fire gutted more than fifty shops with properties worth Tk 4 core gutted at Cinema Hall Road of Muladi Bazar of Barisal on Wednesday evening.
S M Mainul Islam, president Muladi Bazar Merchants Association, said a live wire of electric supply line falling on the Siam Bedding Shop of Anwar Mia at the Bazar caused electric short circuit and instigated the fire at about 3:45 pm and spread at the market.
Then flame of the fire rapidly spread to Muladi Trawler Ghat Masjid area as river isolated Muladi Upazila town has no fire service station to control the flame.
Local people engaged in attempts to extinguish the fire and after 2 hours of hard efforts the flames came under control around 6:00 pm evening.
Fire Service men from Barisal and Gournadi stations reached there after 6:00 pm.
Abdus Sattar Khan, upazila chairman of Muladi said in primary estimate more than fifty shops of medicine, parts, grocery, confectionary, stationary, cotton, cloth, pesticide, fertilizer, jewelry, oil, hotel, restaurant, tea stall gutted by the fire damaging properties worth taka 4 cores.
The businessmen and local government representatives demanded establishment of fire service station at the Muladi upazila town immediately to control damages from such kind of accidents.