Fire at Boalkhali paper mill, estimated damage Tk2cr
The fire damaged valuable machinery, electrical cables and waste paper stored in a section of the warehouse.
A fire at Hakkani Paper and Board Mills in Chattogram's Boalkhali damaged machinery, electrical cables and waste paper worth an estimated Tk2 crore yesterday (17 August).
The fire broke out at around 1pm at the media waste warehouse of Unit-2 at the factory in the East Kalurghat area.
Two firefighting units from Boalkhali and Kalurghat rushed to the scene and brought the blaze under control after nearly three hours of efforts, preventing it from spreading to other parts of the factory.
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The fire damaged valuable machinery, electrical cables and waste paper stored in a section of the warehouse.
Ashraful Mowla, admin manager of the factory, said workers noticed smoke coming from the western corner of the waste warehouse around noon and initially tried to put out the fire with other workers and officials before informing the Fire Service.
Alok Chakma, sub-officer of Boalkhali Fire Service, said two units joined the firefighting operation after receiving the alert.
"The fire was brought under control after nearly three hours of efforts," he said.
The exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
A preliminary assessment suggests that an electrical short circuit may have triggered the blaze, he added.
Paltu Kanti Barua, president of the Hakkani Paper and Board Mills Workers' Union, said several expensive machines and electrical cables were destroyed in the warehouse, along with a quantity of waste paper.
Officials, including Fire Service Deputy Assistant Director of the Agrabad division Atish Chakma, Boalkhali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mozafor Hossain, factory Managing Director Golam Sarwar, Fire Service inspectors Arjun Barua and others, visited the site following the incident.
