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A fire has ravaged at least 17 shops at Boalmari upazila of Faridpur.
The incident took place at Kadirdi market around 10:15 pm on Saturday, according to Khalek Sheikh, station leader at Boalmari Fire Service and Civil Defence.
The affected shops include a beauty salon, medicine shop, tailor shop, seed store, shoe store, and a restaurant, situated across four markets, reports bdnews24.com.
Firefighters from Madhukhali and Boalmari brought the blaze under control after an effort of one and a half hours.
Monir Hossain, a retired Army member, said: “As the traders had closed their shops and left, there were not many people present in the market except for the guards. Upon hearing the commotion caused by the fire, I ran out and saw that it had spread to several shops. I own some shops next to them. However, my shops were not affected.”
The fire is believed to have originated in a tailor shop, according to local union council (UP) member Bulbul Hossain.
"The Fire Service arrived about an hour after the fire started. If the Fire Service hadn't arrived, most of the market would have burnt down."
Rashedul Alam, chief of Madhukhali Fire Service, pointed to a suspected electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire. The extent of the damage will be known after an investigation, he said.