Shawdesh desk:

At least 16 business establishments, mostly wooden furniture shops, were burnt in a devastating fire in Manikganj’s Shibaloy upazila on early Monday.

Md Nadir Hossain, warehouse inspector of Shibaloy upazila Fire Service and Civil Defence, said that the blaze broke out at one of the furniture shops in Aricha Bandar area at about 4:00 am, and soon spread to other furniture shops, one sawmill and one house.

On information, two firefighting units rushed to the spot and brought it under control around three hours after the fire started, he said.

The fire service officer assumed that the fire originated from a short-circuit, causing damages of around Tk 50 lakh.