Chawkbazar market fire burns into the night as two firefighters are reported injured

Ten firefighting units struggle to contain sixth floor blaze

A fire at Manzur Khan Plaza in Old Dhaka's Chawkbazar remained uncontrolled into the early hours of Tuesday, October 13, after firefighters spent hours battling locked warehouses, dense smoke and a shortage of water. Two firefighters were reported seriously injured and taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The blaze began at about 5:02pm on Monday, October 12, in the seven storey market building at Chhoto Katra, beside the AC Mosque. The Fire Service and Civil Defence received the alert at 5:04pm, and crews reached the scene and began work at 5:22pm. Ten firefighting units were working later in the night, with additional specialist and lighting teams bringing the total deployment to 12, according to the service's operations director.

A report extending to 2:00am said the fire had still not been brought under control. That update came almost nine hours after the reported start, although it described the duration as more than eight hours.

Officials gave conflicting accounts of whether the fire had spread beyond the market and whether it was already contained. The suspected place of origin also differed: the city administrator identified a bag warehouse, while another account described an electrical goods warehouse. No confirmed cause or damage estimate was available.

How the emergency unfolded

The most consistent timings place the alert two minutes after the reported start and the beginning of firefighting 18 minutes after the alert. Fire Service media officer Talha Bin Jasim described that sequence:

"We received information about the incident at 5:04pm, and firefighters reached the spot at 5:22pm," he said.

The reported sequence shows how an afternoon emergency developed into an operation lasting through the night:

• October 12, 5:02pm: The fire reportedly started in a shop or warehouse on the sixth floor.
• 5:04pm: The Fire Service received the alert. A reported Fire Service text message said units departed at the same time.
• 5:22pm: The first crews arrived and began firefighting.
• Around 9:00pm: Control room officer Shahjahan Hossain said 10 units were deployed and described access, smoke and water problems.
• 10:30pm: Media wing inspector Anwarul Islam reported nine units at the scene, seven of them actively fighting the fire.
• 11:15pm: A specialist team entered with equipment to remove smoke.
• October 13, around 12:30am: Operations director Lt Col Md Mahmudul Hasan said the fire was not fully under control and described a total deployment of 12 units.
• 2:00am: A further update said 10 firefighting units were still working and the blaze remained uncontrolled.

No final time for bringing the fire under control or extinguishing it was established in these updates.

A short journey slowed by narrow streets

The market was approximately two kilometres from the responding fire station. Traffic and narrow lanes were reported to have slowed the approach. The precise timestamps show 18 minutes between dispatch at 5:04pm and arrival at 5:22pm, while some accounts rounded the journey to about 20 minutes.

The access problem continued after crews arrived. At around 9:00pm, control room officer Shahjahan Hossain said larger fire vehicles could not enter the narrow lanes leading to the scene. That restricted how close equipment and water supplies could be brought to the building.

Firefighters drew hoses from farther away and used vehicles carrying water. Officials at the scene said there was no readily available natural or permanent water source nearby. Sending additional crews therefore did not, by itself, resolve the difficulty of getting enough water to the fire.

Fire Service media officer Talha Bin Jasim described the combined obstacles:

"We are struggling to bring the fire under control because of the narrow lanes, heavy smoke and water shortage," he said.

Locked warehouses and smoke obstructed the operation

Fire Service officer Anwarul Islam said the sixth floor contained warehouses storing different products. Their doors were locked, requiring firefighters to break the locks before entering and tackling the flames. That added delays inside the building to the access problems outside.

Hasan, the director responsible for operations and maintenance, said the warehouses contained cosmetics and bags, and that the fire had spread through different compartments. His account described an operation involving several storage spaces rather than a single readily accessible shop.

Witness accounts described shops on the second and third floors and warehouses on the fourth through seventh floors. Products reportedly stored there included cosmetics, umbrellas and vanity bags. Those descriptions help explain the building's use, but they do not establish which products first caught fire or how ignition occurred.

At 11:15pm, a specialist team entered with a smoke ejector, equipment used to move smoke out of an enclosed space. Thick smoke had repeatedly been identified as an obstacle to firefighters working inside. The equipment's arrival did not constitute an announcement that the fire was controlled.

Witnesses said buyers, sellers and traders came down from the market after learning of the fire. There was no confirmed count of people evacuated or a complete account of who had been inside.

Two firefighters reported seriously injured

Fire Service control room duty officer Md Shahjahan said early Tuesday that two firefighters had been injured during the operation. They were reported seriously injured and taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

A separate account said several firefighters became unwell while tackling the blaze. It was not established whether those people included the two taken to hospital or represented additional cases. Their names, the nature of their injuries and subsequent medical condition were not given.

Earlier updates had said casualty information was unavailable. The later report of firefighter injuries changes that picture: the absence of an initial casualty count should not be read as confirmation that nobody was harmed.

No other casualties were reported in the update identifying the injured firefighters. A final casualty assessment was still unavailable.

Why deployment figures differ

The number of responding units varied across updates. The initial account cited five units, while several later accounts said three had begun the operation before the deployment increased to nine and then 10. These descriptions do not provide a fully consistent count of the first response.

A statement around 10:30pm made a useful distinction between attendance and active firefighting. Anwarul Islam said nine units were present, but only seven were directly fighting the fire. Other updates around 9:00pm, 10:00pm and 11:00pm cited 10 units, so the figures cannot all be reconciled simply as a steady increase.

At around 12:30am, Hasan described 10 firefighting units plus a special response team and a lighting unit, making 12 units in total. That broader count can coexist with reports that 10 units were engaged in containing the blaze.

The distinction matters because a total deployment may include teams supporting access, visibility or other tasks, rather than an equal number of crews applying water to the fire.

Conflicting statements on control and spread

Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Md Abdus Salam visited the scene late Monday and said a Fire Service official had told him the blaze was contained. Salam recounted that conversation:

"I spoke to the Fire Service official here. He said, 'There is no fire now; it has been contained'," Salam said.

However, control room officer Shahjahan Hossain said around midnight that the Fire Service had not declared the fire under control. Hasan subsequently said it was not fully controlled and estimated that crews might need another hour. That was an expectation, not a confirmed completion time.

Accounts also disagreed about spread. One evening update attributed to duty officer Rashed Bin Khalid said the fire had reached an adjacent building. Anwarul Islam later said it was confined to the affected building and had not spread elsewhere.

Md Shahjahan described the difficulty early Tuesday:

"The fire spread, making it difficult to bring it under control," he said.

That statement did not specify whether he meant spread within Manzur Khan Plaza or beyond it. Hasan's description of flames moving between compartments supports spread inside the market, but does not settle the conflicting accounts about a neighbouring building.

The suspected origin is not a confirmed cause

Salam said he understood that the fire began in a bag warehouse, with cloth warehouses nearby. He also acknowledged that the Fire Service could not yet explain how it started and that an investigation would be needed.

Another account placed the origin in an electrical goods warehouse on the sixth floor. Hasan described cosmetics and bag warehouses, while the initial information identified a shop on that floor without specifying its stock.

These descriptions leave the exact place of origin uncertain. They also concern a different issue from the ignition cause. Identifying a warehouse or the goods stored in it does not establish whether an electrical fault, an open flame or another mechanism started the blaze. No such finding had been announced.

The value of damaged stock, the extent of structural damage and the condition of neighbouring properties were also unconfirmed. Descriptions of substantial inventories were not verified loss estimates.

City administrator promises consideration of repairs and aid

Salam linked the response difficulties to old water lines and pressure on local infrastructure. He said the city corporation planned to repair the lines and was trying to preserve water in remaining ponds in Old Dhaka. He gave no completion dates.

The administrator also urged markets to keep extinguishers available and roads clear. He argued that shops occupying roads and pavements could obstruct fire vehicles, though no specific obstruction by an individual business was established.

Salam said the corporation would consider assistance for those affected and act on recommendations arising from the Fire Service investigation. No aid amount, eligibility rules, investigation deadline or date for publishing findings was announced.

The immediate unresolved issues remained the final control time, the injured firefighters' condition, the cause and origin of the blaze, and a verified account of damage and spread.

Key Points

• The fire began around 5:02pm on October 12 at Manzur Khan Plaza in Chhoto Katra, Chawkbazar.
• Firefighters received the alert at 5:04pm and began work at 5:22pm.
• Narrow lanes, water shortages, dense smoke and locked warehouses slowed the response.
• Ten firefighting units were reported working, with specialist and lighting teams bringing the broader deployment to 12.
• Two firefighters were reported seriously injured and taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
• Officials gave conflicting accounts of containment, spread and the warehouse where the blaze began.
• A 2:00am update still described the fire as uncontrolled. Its cause and the extent of damage remained unconfirmed.