CEPZ fire still raging; 19 units battling to bring blaze under control

A massive fire that broke out at a garment factory inside the Chattogram Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) on Thursday afternoon is yet to be brought under control, with 19 firefighting units working to douse the blaze.

The fire broke around 2pm on the fifth and sixth floors of an eight-storey building housing Adams Caps and Textile Limited and quickly spread, said Mohammad Jashim Uddin, Deputy Director of Chattogram Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Upon receiving the information, 19 firefighting units, including one from the Bangladesh Navy, rushed to the spot and launched an operation to extinguish the flames, he added.

“All employees, numbering between 18 and 20, were safely evacuated from the building,” said Jashim Uddin.

Members of the Police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Army have also joined the operation to bring the situation under control.

The fire has so far engulfed the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors of the building, triggering panic in the area.

The cause of the fire could not be known immediately, though officials suspect it may have intensified due to the presence of chemical substances at the site.