Hundreds of shops gutted in market fire in Bangladesh

Smoke rises after a massive fire broke out at the Mohammadpur Krishi Market in Dhaka, Bangladesh, September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

DHAKA (Reuters) - A huge fire gutted several hundreds shops at a market in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, but there were no casualties as the blaze swept through the area in the early hours of Thursday, before stores opened.

It took six hours for military forces and firefighters to contain the blaze, which spread quickly in the Mohammadpur market due to the large amount of flammable items such as cooking oil and plastics, officials said.