Shawdesh Desk:

A devastating fire broke out at the Minister brand electronics factory at Dhirasram in Gazipur on Friday morning.

Minister is a brand of the My One Electronics company.

Gazipur fire service deputy assistant director Mamunur Rashid said that the fire broke out on the fifth floor of the six-storied factory building at about 7:00am and it was doused at about 2:00pm.

As the fire was gaining strength a total of 18 firefighting units eventually joined the operation to put out the flames.

No casualties were reported and the fire service was yet to confirm the fire’s origin and the damage caused by it.

Fire service officials said that the fire was extinguished after it gutted valuable materials stockpiled on the fifth and fourth floors of the building.

The fire fighters were facing difficulties as combustible materials were stored inside the building, they said.

Besides, there were no sufficient fire safety measures in place in the building, he added.

The company’s head of media KMG Kibria said that various home appliances, manufactured in the factory, were stored on the sixth floor. But he could not provide an estimate of the value of the goods.

Aside from refrigerators and televisions, the factory also produces other electronic goods such as rice cookers and irons, said the company’s DGM Md Rafiqul Islam said.

He said that the factory employed around 2,000 workers but its operations were closed on Friday.

After inspecting the scene, Md Motaleb Mia, deputy inspector general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, told reporters that there existed no rule for keeping warehouses on the fifth floor or above of a building.

Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur SM Tarikul Islam said that a seven-member probe committee headed by an additional district magistrate was formed to ascertain the cause of the fire.